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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28367613">Being Alive [Charlie Barber]</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Worm_girl/pseuds/Worm_girl'>Worm_girl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marriage Story (2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Affairs, And Charlie loves to take care of her, Boss/Employee Relationship, Boss/Intern Relationship, Charlie is very daddy, Cheating, Comfort Reading, Daddy Issues, Extramarital Affairs, F/M, Falling In Love, Interns &amp; Internships, Lots of 'sweetheart's and 'honey's, Lots of sad angst, Mutual Pining, Older Man/Younger Woman, Semi-Public Sex, Sexual Tension, Size Difference, Skirts and knee high socks, Sneaking Around, Workplace Sex, Y/N is a sweet baby, babysitter, dd/lg themes, lots and lots of fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:07:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>108,688</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28367613</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Worm_girl/pseuds/Worm_girl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You're an aspiring director who just moved to New York City. You are inexperienced and eager and thrilled to get an internship with Charlie Barber's theater company and a job as his son's babysitter. You need these opportunities for your future career almost as much as you need Charlie himself. And he needs you.<br/>Of course, it's not that easy, it never is.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>{ This fic is based off the 2019 film, 'A Marriage Story'. It takes place at some point before the film begins. If you are not comfortable with themes that revolve around cheating/affairs or getting involved with your boss, this is not the story for you! }</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Charlie Barber/Reader, Charlie Barber/You</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>97</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Mr.Barber</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>The harsh stage lights filled your vision, making you wince and hold your hand up to your face to block them out.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Don't do that." You heard a low male voice ring out. "We want to see you."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You blinked in confusion, slowly lowering your hand and straining so that you were able to adjust your gaze to see what was in front of you.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Even though it didn't make any sense to you, you quickly pieced together that you were standing on a large stage in a theater.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>In front of you was an audience. You squinted to make out their faces but you couldn't.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>The front row was almost entirely empty besides a man sat directly in the middle, legs slightly spread and a hand on his chin. You recognized him but you couldn't place where you met him...if you had ever met him, even.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He was the definition of tall, dark, and handsome with a strong nose and furrowed brows set in concentration.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Are you gonna put on a good show for us, baby?" His voice was like honey, a direct contrast from the nerves you felt being on display like this, all these eyes on you.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Um..." Your voice came out like a whisper.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Yes, you are. Do you want to know how I know that?" He moved his hand away from his chin, revealing his full lips to you, making you weak.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"How?" Your voice sounded so far away.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Because you're a good girl. And good girls know how to perform when daddy asks them to."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You exhaled loudly, arousal clouding the confusion you felt.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"So take off your clothes. Give us what we want." The man commanded, his eyes never leaving yours, did he ever blink?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You noticed the way the members of the audience behind him never moved. They were just bodies, animal desire was the only thing pumping through their veins, thoughtless.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Something inside of you, or maybe it was something outside of you and out of your control, began taking off your clothes despite every thought in your head telling you to stop.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>With shaky hands, you peeled your clothes off, letting them fall against the stage floor below your bare feet. It was so silent in there that you could hear the thin material hit the ground and the way that the man who was ordering you around, made a small noise of appreciation at your nakedness.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Then you jumped, startled, when the audience behind him began mechanically clapping their hands at the sight of your bare skin. The skin of their palms somehow adding lust into the air with each impact.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Come here." The man said, using his fingers to motion you towards him, cutting off the sounds of clapping in an instant.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You were barely aware of the way you were walking to him, down the stairs in front of the stage, leading to the aisle in the audience. It was like you were hypnotized, each step making you needier for this stranger.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You stopped in front of him and you were in awe of how much he looked like some sort of God up close, like he was carved from marble underneath his skin.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"You are beautiful." The man breathed out, his eyes racking over your body. You swore you could feel the audience behind him leaning in, getting taller, so that they could get a better view. "Fucking perfect." He added in a low voice.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He spread his legs out farther apart and patted to a spot on his thigh. "Bend over." He directed you. His voice was so convincing, stern but gentle.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You couldn't help yourself from obeying. You moved so that you were able to settle in between his knees then bent over, your stomach against his thigh and your ass up in the air.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You noticed the way that the stage lights had followed you and they were currently shining brightly down at you, exposing you even more to this entire theater, making you shiver.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Be a good girl and touch yourself. Show everyone exactly how you like it." The man you were bent over wasn't touching you. His hands were down by his sides but his words felt like they were caressing you all over, enticing you into doing what he wanted.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You brought a trembling hand behind you so that you could run your fingers in between your parted thighs, much to your surprise, you were wet.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Just like that." He hummed, praising you, "Good job, baby."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You whimpered at your touch and his voice. You were so sensitive and this was all too much.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Put on a show for us. We want to hear you scream. Can you do that, baby girl? Show daddy-"</em>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.</p>
<p>"Few more minutes." You yawned to yourself, reaching over to grab at your phone where your alarm was currently going off. You barely glanced at the time, ready to shut your eyes again to be transported back to your dream but then it dawned on you.</p>
<p>You had overslept. By a lot.</p>
<p>And today was such a big day. You were going to the interview for your internship.</p>
<p>"Fuck!" You ripped the blankets off of your body and leaped onto your feet, cussing again when you stepped on a hairbrush. How did that even get there?</p>
<p>You had been so convinced that your dream had been real, it all felt so real, even if it was ridiculous. But no, you weren't about to get fucked by a gorgeous man in front of a creepy audience.</p>
<p>Instead, It was a Monday morning.</p>
<p>And you were a mess. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<p>It was 9:45 when you arrived to the theater.</p>
<p>Your interview was at 9:00. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<p>Charlie Barber was sitting at a table in one of the back rooms of the theater, fingers tapping against the wood. He had been interviewing potential interns all morning and he was almost done...if only you would just show up. He was pretty convinced on who he wanted at this point. A 26 year old guy from Brooklyn who had been practically raised in the theater, he wasn't the perfect candidate but he was good enough.</p>
<p>Your resume was technically the least impressive and being late didn't help your case either. At this point, he was waiting for you as just a formality, to ensure that everyone got a chance.</p>
<p>His head was pounding and he couldn't stop yawning. The night before had been far from relaxing and he was running on a few hours of sleep.<br/><br/><br/></p>
<p>He ran a hand through his hair, thinking back to the fight him and Nicole had. It was so stupid. They almost always were:</p>
<p>
  <em>Charlie had walked into the living room, in the middle of cooking dinner, and saw his son Henry sitting on the couch, an ice cream cone in his hand.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Where'd you get that?" Charlie asked, exasperated.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Mom gave me it." He shrugged, eyes glued on the iPad on his lap.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"What?" Charlie sighed, putting the towel he had been wiping his hands off with, over his shoulder. "Nicole!" He called out, trying to find where she was.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>She made her way out of the bedroom, closing her sweater in around her. "What's going on?" She asked, confused.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"You gave Henry ice cream? I've been working on dinner for the past hour." He felt like he was going to pull his hair out. He barely had any time for himself and he chose to spend it cooking tonight.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Well, I'm sorry, he did his homework and it was really tough tonight." Nicole said sheepishly. It was so tiring to beg him to do things, it made it so much easier to just offer him a something he wanted when he was done.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"You shouldn't-" Charlie cut himself off with a frustrated sigh. There was no use, he was a broken record. He was always telling her that she shouldn't reward him for just doing what he's supposed to. "You should've just given him the iPad, he's never going to eat dinner now."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Nicole looked at him, frowning. "You don't have to talk to me like I'm stupid.."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Charlie groaned as he made his way back to the kitchen, whipping the towel against the doorframe with a smack. "I wasn't! I was just hoping Henry would eat the fucking chicken I made for us!"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Silence, then</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"What's 'fucking'?" Henry asked innocently, looking up.</em>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>They spent most of the dinner in silence besides when they were talking to their son. And Nicole asked Charlie to sleep on the couch, even though he was entirely too big for it.</p>
<p>He tried not to think about the millions of things he had to do, the amount of emails he was ignoring because he had been convinced you would walk in the door any moment now.</p>
<p>He checked his watch. 9:47.</p>
<p>With a sigh, Charlie started packing his notebook and laptop up, assuming that you had forgotten about the interview or decided you weren't interested after all.<br/><br/></p>
<p>As you entered the theater, you were practically running up the stairwell, glancing up and down at the email that told you where to go so that you didn't mess that up too.</p>
<p>You grabbed the door and yanked it open, running straight into something.</p>
<p>Or someone.</p>
<p>Someone's chest.</p>
<p>Charlie made a noise that resembled 'oof' as he felt the impact.</p>
<p>"Fuck." You cursed then looking up at who you ran into, your heart stopped. You recognized him from pictures you'd seen when stressing out over this interview. Charlie Barber.</p>
<p>Then...it dawned on you.</p>
<p>The man in your dream that morning looked suspiciously like him. You realized you had fallen asleep while looking through the theater's website. Charlie had photos of himself on there, a video of an interview he did with a local news station...you must've been thinking about him in your sleep...</p>
<p>"Shit, sorry." You wanted to die. "I mean...wow, I am <em>so</em> sorry."</p>
<p>You could barely look at him. You couldn't stop thinking about how an hour ago you'd been bent over his knee, naked, in your dream.</p>
<p>Charlie couldn't help but laugh, moving back so that you weren't right up against him and he was able to look down at you. He realized he didn't recognize you. Everyone in the building was like family to him so that could only mean one thing. You were the one he had just been waiting to interview for so long.</p>
<p>He said your name questioningly, making sure that it was indeed you.</p>
<p>You sighed and nodded, "That's me. Unfortunately."</p>
<p>Once again, Charlie laughed. He was amused by you, among other things...</p>
<p>"I'm sorry...I know I'm late. I'm so embarrassed." You glanced down the stairwell behind you, wondering if you could just jump off.</p>
<p>"I just moved here a few weeks ago and the people above me were so loud last night,I..." You trailed off, taking a deep breath so that you didn't start rambling. "I have no idea what I'm doing." You admitted, swallowing hard.</p>
<p>You felt so stupid. You had wasted his time, ran right into him, and now you were talking too much and embarrassing yourself.</p>
<p>Charlie locked eyes with you, narrowing them to look you over. If he were on the outside looking in, he would've told himself that he should thank you for your interest but let you know that you missed your interview and good luck in the future. Being almost an hour late wasn't exactly impressive.</p>
<p>But then he noticed how you were staring up at him with these wide, flustered eyes, the skin on your chest slightly glistening with sweat, the way your breath was heavy from running here, the way you looked in the dress you were wearing...</p>
<p>He snapped out of it, moving his eyes back up to yours with an easy smile. He hoped his decision wasn't being swayed in your favor <em>just</em> because you were gorgeous.</p>
<p>He remembered when he first moved here and felt like he was always 10 steps behind everyone else because the city was always moving so quickly, how hard it was to even take care of himself let alone go job hunting. He sort of felt like that right now, actually. Looking at you was like looking into a mirror. You were both a mess.</p>
<p>"Are you hungry?" He asked, glancing at his watch again.</p>
<p>"Almost always." You found yourself saying.</p>
<p>Charlie grinned at that, he could relate. "I skipped breakfast today and was gonna go grab some food. Are you okay with doing your interview there?"<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<p>You tried not to watch the way that Charlie was absolutely devouring his food across from you. You were impressed, honestly. And comforted because even though you were technically in the middle of an interview for an internship that you wanted so badly and were so under qualified for, seeing him be relaxed put you at ease.</p>
<p>"So, you said you just moved here?" He asked after swallowing the bite he had taken.</p>
<p>You nodded, trying to be as casual as he was. "From the Midwest. Middle of nowhere, Illinois." You explained. You weren't sure why you were embarrassed about that. Whenever you'd tell people that who were originally from the big city they'd look at you like you like you were an idiot.</p>
<p>Charlie looked at you and raised his eyebrows, "Really? I'm from middle of nowhere, Indiana." He said, contemplative. He didn't consider that his home, New York was his home, but seeing you reminded him of what it was like back before he moved out here and started his career.</p>
<p>"Really? You seem so...<em>New</em> <em>York</em>." You were surprised. He seemed so natural here, you couldn't imagine him living anywhere else.</p>
<p>He smiled at that, taking it as compliment. "Yeah but, I mean, I moved a while ago. I'm quite a bit older than you. You'll get the hang of it eventually." He said, stabbing food onto his fork again.</p>
<p>You swallowed hard at his words. He was older than you. And you loved older men. Fuck...This was an interview. 'Get your shit together', you thought to yourself as you took a big drink of coffee to keep yourself from saying something stupid.</p>
<p>You couldn't help but remember how surprised you'd been when you saw how attractive Charlie's photo was on the theater's website. Having him across from you in person didn't change that, in fact, he was even more gorgeous up close.</p>
<p>   He had no idea how hot he was, you realized, as he shoved an other large bite of food into his mouth.</p>
<p>"So..." He took a sip of coffee. "Tell me about your experience in the theater." He said with a gentle smile, letting you know it was nothing to be nervous about. Really, he had pretty much decided on someone else to be his intern but of course you didn't know that. He just didn't want to be the asshole who turned you away on your first interview in a new city. He wanted to at least let you think that you had a shot so you wouldn't be discouraged in the future.</p>
<p>"Oh," You almost forgot that you were even there for an interview because of the dirty thoughts you were having, "Right." You said, taking a deep breath. Over the next several minutes you explained to him what your background was. In reality, it wasn't much. You were an actress for most of your life but during your senior year of college you discovered your love for directing and you chose to go that route instead. Because you had decided this late in your college career, you hadn't been able to get much experience with it then. And now that you were graduated, you needed to pay bills and as passionate as you were about directing, you hadn't been able to do it right away because you needed to make enough money to live off of and pay your student loans.</p>
<p>Charlie listened to everything that you had to say and he felt his stomach sink. Your experience was so much lower than the other potential interns. He realized it had been a mistake, taking you out to breakfast like this. He had been attempting to lift your spirits but he was beginning to think he had just gotten your hopes up.</p>
<p>But then he asked you an other simple question, "What is it that you enjoy about directing?" And then Charlie realized maybe this wasn't a mistake after all.</p>
<p>He watched the way your face lit up, like a lightbulb was turned on behind your eyes. You rambled and ranted about all of the things you loved about directing, about theater, about art in general.</p>
<p>    And Charlie was hooked. He was so interested in what you had to say that he even put his fork down, abandoning the half full plate of food in front of him as he listened to you.</p>
<p>The others he interviewed for the internship were amazing on paper and they weren't <em>terrible</em> to talk to but he felt underwhelmed by their interest level. They had all been jaded and too experienced, it almost felt like they had been interviewing <em>him</em> at times. But here you were in front of him, full of energy and an open mind... You were giggling and smiling at your own words, exciting yourself with the things you were bringing up...You were willing to learn and you were passionate... You were adorable. You were exactly what Charlie was looking for...in an <em>intern</em>, of course...</p>
<p>The rest of the time that you two spent finishing your food, Charlie let you keep talking, enjoying it. You couldn't stop yourself. It had been so long since you were able to talk about theater and things related to it. It wasn't until you glanced down at your watch and saw what time it was, that you realized you'd been ranting for almost an hour.</p>
<p>It didn't matter that you'd lost track of time and went on and on. Charlie listened to everything you said. He liked hearing it, it was refreshing.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<p>When your food was gone (Charlie had finished a lot quicker than you), the two of you walked out into the busy sidewalk. He moved in front of you so that you were forced to look up at him, blinking through the sunlight peaking in behind his shoulders. "I'll see you tomorrow morning then. Nine o'clock." He told you, running a hand through his hair.</p>
<p>You blinked, trying to think back to if this was something you discussed with him before. "Oh, is there an other round of interviews?" You asked.</p>
<p>Charlie laughed, realizing he didn't explain himself well. He really was exhausted. "No, sorry, I want you to start the internship tomorrow."</p>
<p>You froze, your jaw dropping slightly. "I got the internship?" You asked, shocked. You showed up late and just talked Charlie's ear off over the past hour. You really didn't think you stood a chance.</p>
<p>"You did." He said, a smile on his lips.</p>
<p>You almost fell over. "Holy shit."</p>
<p>That made Charlie genuinely laugh.</p>
<p>"Sorry." You quickly corrected yourself, your skin heating up in embarrassment. "Thank you...Oh my god." You gasped, clasping your hands together gratefully.</p>
<p>Seeing how relieved and happy you were to get the internship reassured Charlie that he made the right choice choosing you for it. He knew the others that were up for it wouldn't have reacted this way.</p>
<p>"You don't need to thank me. You deserve it." He said, shrugging.</p>
<p>"I'm...wow..." You were speechless. "I don't know. I'm just... <em>very</em> grateful. Thank you, Mr.Barber." You told sincerely.</p>
<p>Charlie felt his heart skip a beat at the way 'Mr.Barber' sounded on your lips. People addressed him as such all the time but something about it coming from you really turned him on. Maybe it was the way that you were bouncing around in front of him in your little dress and thigh high socks or the way that you were looking up at him with these wide, eager eyes. But he found himself having to remind himself that you were now his intern. And he was <em>married</em>.</p>
<p>"Just call me Charlie." He said to you in a strained voice. He hoped you weren't able to see the way his pupils dilated while his mind wandered to the way it would sound for you to call him 'Mr.Barber' while he was lifting your dress up...grabbing your hair...<em>fucking</em> you.</p>
<p>You were oblivious to his dirty thoughts, naive and wrapped up in the fact that you had an actual internship in an actual theater. Of course, it didn't offer you any income but that was okay, you didn't mind getting a second job if it meant you could actually spend time helping to create something. "Well, thank you, <em>Charlie</em>." You emphasized the name.</p>
<p>"Good-." He stopped himself. What he wanted to say, what he almost automatically said was: 'good girl' since you called him Charlie instead of Mr.Barber. But that would've been a huge mistake on many levels.</p>
<p>"Good...Um," Charlie was stuttering on his words to try and correct his close slip up, "Good. I'm glad that you're excited to start." He checked his watch, he spent way too much time talking to you. "I'll see you then, okay? Nine AM." He reminded you to which you nodded at him quickly, showing you understood.</p>
<p>You watched him disappear into the crowd of people and when you were sure that he was out of earshot, you clapped to yourself. "Yes! Hell yes!" You celebrated.</p>
<p>You made eye contact with someone who gave you an odd look. "I just got an internship!" You shared, a big grin on your face.</p>
<p>"Fuck off." They responded, rolling their eyes and pushing past you.</p>
<p>"Okay." You said awkwardly, smile faltering for a moment. You definitely weren't in the Midwest anymore. You didn't let that stranger bother you though. Instead, you did an other celebration dance to yourself before starting to walk in the direction of the subway.</p>
<p>This internship was the first thing you accomplished since moving away.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<p>When Charlie got back to the theater, he realized how he would've much rather sat in that small cafe with you all day, listening to the way your words could barely keep up with your thoughts.</p>
<p>"How'd it go? Did you go for lunch or something?" Frank, one of Charlie's actors, asked as the director walked into the rehearsal room. Everyone knew that the intern interviews were taking place that morning and they were all curious to hear who he gave it to, to see if the new person would fit in well enough.</p>
<p>"I did the last interview at that place down the street with the good coffee, the one that's always busy." Charlie was talking to him as he went through the papers in his hands, a script.</p>
<p>"Well...did you decide who you're gonna give it to?" The other man asked eagerly.</p>
<p>Charlie said your name, his eyes not leaving what was in his hands.</p>
<p>Frank repeated your name, as if he were trying to recall who exactly you were. "The young girl, right?"</p>
<p>He nodded, "That's her."</p>
<p>"Good choice." Frank grinned, "We could use a few more of those around here." Then, he leaned in closer so that only Charlie would be able to hear. "Is she cute?"</p>
<p>Charlie's eyes flashed up to the man's across from him. He couldn't help but let his lips form into a hint of a smile. He didn't answer the question but his face said it all.</p>
<p>"She is! I knew it!" Frank realized, celebrating. He rushed over to the other actors in the room who were all sitting around, going over various lines. "The new intern is a hot girl!"</p>
<p>Charlie quickly made his way over to them, "I never said that." He defended himself. He didn't want anyone thinking that he would talk about an intern like that. Well, of course, he was thinking it, but...that was besides the point.</p>
<p>"You didn't have to say it." Frank said, "I saw the look in your eye." Frank was harmless. He was loud and hilarious and he was just saying all of this to get a rise out of Charlie.</p>
<p>Kyle, the twenty five year old very handsome actor, was a different story. "A hot girl?" He asked, straightening up in his seat. "That's the best kind of intern." He said with a smirk on his face. Kyle was fully aware of how good looking that he was and that's why he was so cocky and annoying. Charlie didn't like having him around but he did play the roles he was type casted for so well that he felt like he had to keep asking him back.</p>
<p>Something about the way he said that, made Charlie frown. He didn't like the predatory, hungry look on the young man's face. "Don't be creepy about it. She's actually really nice." He said, his voice in a warning tone.</p>
<p>"I won't be." Kyle raised his hands, feigning innocence. "Unless she's into that." He added with a sleazy smile. His comment made everyone around him laugh besides Charlie who was rolling his eyes.</p>
<p>"If I lose an intern over sexual harassment, I'll personally kick everyone's ass." He called out over his shoulder as he made his way back to the stack of papers that he'd left when he moved to defend himself.</p>
<p>Kyle yelled something back at him but he wasn't really listening. Charlie's mind went to you. You seemed so excited to start this, he hoped you wouldn't get scared away by the big personalities. As he thought about you, his mind wandered to the stack of notes in front of him that he had to get through and to the fight with Nicole that he would have to work through when he got home and he audibly groaned in frustration. He was overwhelmed. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<p>"I'm so happy for you!" Your older sister, Erin, congratulated you over the phone after you told her the news about the internship.</p>
<p>"I'm just shocked that I actually got it. I wonder if no one else applied." You said, in between bites from the pizza you ordered yourself to celebrate with. You were in just a big t-shirt and underwear, a pizza box on your lap and your phone against your ear.</p>
<p>"Oh shut up." She sighed and you could imagine the way she was rolling her eyes at you. "I knew you'd get it, you're so good with that stuff." She told you. She knew nothing about theater but you appreciated the way that she always tried her best to relate.</p>
<p>"Thanks." You said sincerely, appreciating the compliment. There was a few beats of silence as you reached for your water to take a sip.</p>
<p>"Mom would be so proud of you." Erin finally said which caused you to quickly swallow the drink you just took, surprised to hear those words. "She always wanted us to move away and figure life out away from home. You're the only one who had the balls to do it...You're doing great." She said, then, "You should go on a few dates though, I want you to find a cute New York boyfriend."</p>
<p>You could hear the emotion in her voice after bringing up mom and you were thankful she changed the subject before either of you could get actually sad over it. "One step at a time. Yesterday I bought a rug, today I got an internship...maybe I'll get fucked tomorrow." You shrugged.</p>
<p>"No! Gross, stop!" Erin yelled, "That's not what I meant." She said. You could be innocent at times but Erin was a prude and it brought you a lot of joy to get under her skin about it.</p>
<p>"Okay, okay. Sorry." You smirked, grabbing an other piece of pizza. "I gotta go, I have important things to do." You said. The important things in question were to continue to eat pizza and get caught up on your Youtube subscriptions.</p>
<p>"Of course you do, you're a working woman now!" Erin joked with you. The two of you said your goodbyes and you hung up with a sigh.</p>
<p>Talking to your sister just reminded you how lonely you were in your tiny apartment in a brand new busy city. Erin was right, you needed to put yourself out there and go on a few dates, you thought. Your eyes glanced to your phone, wondering if you should finally download one of those dating apps. Then you thought about actually doing it and shook your head. You'd worry about that later.</p>
<p>For now, you were going to let yourself enjoy the alone time.</p>
<p>Your eyes wandered over to your dresser, where you knew your vibrator was sitting in the drawer. Okay, maybe you could enjoy your time alone, with some help...<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p>
<p>Your calm evening was a direct contrast from Charlie and Nicole's.</p>
<p>He was late coming home, he had so much to catch up on and he had been so focused on it that he forgot to tell Nicole. Usually that wasn't a problem but he forgot that he promised Henry that he'd make his favorite food, spaghetti, for dinner tonight. And as much as Nicole tried to assure her son that her spaghetti would be just as good, he wasn't happy with it. He wanted <em>dad's</em> spaghetti.</p>
<p>So now Charlie was standing over the stove, trying not to fall asleep as he made dinner for everyone, still in his work clothes. He was exhausted and stressed and it would've been a big relief for him to walk in with food ready or maybe even walk in and be assured that they could just order take out.</p>
<p>"If you would've told me you were coming home late I would've figured something else out." Nicole said to him, leaning against the cabinets so that she could talk in a low enough voice that Henry wouldn't hear.</p>
<p>"I had so much to do. I wasn't thinking." He yawned, stirring up the sauce pan underneath him.</p>
<p>There was a beat of silence. "Or you know," Nicole continued, "Next time you know you might have a long day ahead of you, don't promise Henry that you'll be around to do something." She suggested, passive aggressively.</p>
<p>Charlie paused his movements, looking over at her. "I'm trying my best here." He said in a quiet voice. He glanced behind him and saw Henry in his own world, playing with some action figures. "I didn't think he'd even remember, he was half asleep when I said it to him last night... Besides, you promise him shit all the time and don't follow through. The only difference is I wasn't here to fix it."</p>
<p>That struck a nerve. "I don't do that." Nicole argued, trying to control the volume of her voice. "I always follow through." She said frustratedly. She felt like he never saw how much work she put in with Henry. "You wouldn't know that though, I guess, because you're always gone." She hissed. She noticed the way that their son was starting to notice the argument between his parents and she felt guilty, moving away from Charlie to try and end things for Henry's sake.</p>
<p>"I'm always gone so that I can bring money home, so I can pay for this food, and this apartment, and this stupid," He was trying to turn the stove on a higher setting but the knob kept getting stuck, "<em>fucking stove!</em>" He finished his statement as he ripped the knob right off from the force he was using to try and turn it.</p>
<p>Nicole shot him a glare, "Oh perfect. Good job." She said sarcastically. He was always so forceful and clumsy, breaking things without meaning to. She hated it.</p>
<p>Charlie sighed in frustration before throwing the dumb little knob against the wall by the trash can, too tired to actually go over there and throw it away. "I don't want to hear it!" He frowned, embarrassed, holding a hand up behind him as if to shush her.</p>
<p>If he knew what you were up to, eating pizza and touching yourself, Charlie would be absolutely envious.</p>
<p>Right now, in this exact moment, Charlie realized how unhappy he was.</p>
<p>He realized how mentally drained he was from this relationship. He looked over at Nicole and he knew the same thoughts were running through her head from the way she was holding back tears while playing with the action figure in her hand to distract Henry.</p>
<p>His stomach dropped as an other thought dawned on him about his marriage.</p>
<p>This was the beginning of the end.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Trouble</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As you rotated in front of your mirror, you couldn't help but think to yourself, 'which skirt would Mr.Barber like the best?'</p><p>Realizing the implications behind this thought, you paused in embarrassment, making shameful eye contact with your reflection. You shook your head, as if to shake those thoughts right out of it and attempted to correct yourself, 'which skirt would Charlie think is the most professional?'</p><p>You took a deep breath at that, steadying yourself so that you could get yourself together.</p><p>As attractive as your new boss was, you knew you couldn't let it get in the way of your first day of your internship or the <em>rest</em> of your internship, for that matter. When you formed a crush on someone, you really let it consume you and you weren't emotionally ready for that right now.</p><p>Not only was he your boss but you also reminded yourself of the wedding ring you saw on his finger yesterday at that cafe. He was married.</p><p>Charlie Barber was completely off limits. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>Charlie told you to show up at the theater at nine in the morning. But after being almost an hour late the morning before, you were sitting on the ground outside of the entrance, a little before eight-thirty.</p><p>You knew you were too early but you didn't mind. You were sitting against the side of the locked building, sipping from the coffee in your hands and tapping your foot slightly to the music playing through your headphones.</p><p>Around ten minutes later, you jumped at the way that two large feet were now in your line of vision, right next to you. You yanked a headphone from your ear as you looked up to see Charlie staring down at you.</p><p>"I told you nine o'clock, right?" He asked, eyebrows raised. He'd been so tired and all over the place lately, he didn't really trust himself to give correct information. Did he already make a mistake before you even had the chance to start?</p><p>"Oh, yeah, you did." You said, taking the other headphone from your ear, flustered. "I just didn't want to be late like I was yesterday, that was a one time thing." You explained to him. You felt stupid sitting on the ground while he was staring down at you but didn't make any moves to stand.</p><p>Charlie couldn't help but let out a chuckle. It had been a long time since he had someone working for him like you, so eager. He liked it. "Well, I'm sorry you had to wait."</p><p>"Don't be sorry." You told him, gathering your belongings up together, scrambling.</p><p>Charlie's eyes stayed down on you as he dug through the pocket of his cardigan to locate the keys for the building. He frowned at where his thoughts were going... the way that he was taking in the peaks of your bare skin in between the material of your skirt and your tall socks and the way that if he really wanted to look, he would have the perfect angle to see down the front of your shirt.</p><p>You glanced up at him, feeling his gaze on you and your skin heated up at the way he was already looking at you.</p><p>He cleared his throat in surprise, locking eyes with you as he pulled the keys from his pocket, he had been so caught up in his own mind that he forgot that you were even really there, even though he had been thinking about you.</p><p>"Oh!" You said, remembering. You were oblivious to the way he was hungrily looking you over. "I brought you some coffee. I had time to get some for myself and I remembered how you said you forgot to drink it before work yesterday so I figured you might need it." You told him, reaching for the cup of black coffee, next to yours, and handing it up to him.</p><p>Charlie's face slowly formed into a grin as he took the coffee from your hand, impressed by your memory and your ability to surprise him. "Wow, thank you." He said to you genuinely.</p><p>Just like the day before, he had such a hectic morning that he had forgotten to drink any coffee again. He definitely needed it. "I can't remember the last time someone brought <em>me</em> coffee. Usually that's my job."</p><p>You were confused, "Isn't that what interns do?" You had never done this before. You grabbed at your purse and your coffee and began to move up from the ground.</p><p>Out of pure instinct, Charlie offered his hand out for you, to help you stand up.</p><p>Then, also out of pure instinct, you put your hand into his.</p><p>Feeling his warm skin against your cool palm made you shiver as you stood onto your feet. You were surprised, you realized it was the first time you had physical contact with someone other than to shake their hand, in a very long time.</p><p>Charlie was realizing something along the same lines...when was the last time he held Nicole's hand? Maybe a year. Physical forms of affection ended around the same time that sex ended. About a year ago.</p><p>Once you were settled in a standing position, you hesitantly moved your hand away from his, realizing you were still holding it in the first place.</p><p>His fingers burned from the absence of your touch. Your hand had been so small in his...it made something tug at the bottom of his heart, sinking, longing to grab you again.</p><p>"Can we go inside? I wanna see it." You asked, breaking the tension, motioning towards the keys in his hand that was also holding his to-go cup of coffee. You really had only been in the stairwell the day before and you were curious to see everything.</p><p>"Oh," Charlie snapped out of it. 'Sure." He said to you with a slightly sheepish smile. He took his keys and fumbled with them in his free hand, unlocking the door and letting it swing open. "After you." He nodded towards the entrance.</p><p>As you walked in, you had to squeeze slightly past him, ducking under his arm to do so. You felt like your cheeks were on fire at the way your thigh had slightly brushed against his. You had even been able to feel the material of his pants against your bare skin.</p><p>Charlie was frozen in place. When was the last time a woman touched his thigh? Once again, he realized it had been about a year... He was always so wrapped up in work and arguing with Nicole and trying to hold his life together, that moments like this were a distant memory.</p><p>Charlie was dying to be touched, to be wanted again, he didn't even realize how much he needed it until you were right in front of him, touching his hand and brushing against him. As long as it had been since someone had desired him, it had felt like such a long time since he'd wanted someone himself...Charlie noted the way his heart was speeding up, he was flustered.</p><p>He watched the way you practically skipped in front of him, excited to see where you would be working and he felt a small frown tug at his lips at the way his thoughts started wandering again, growing darker.</p><p>What did he get himself into when he hired you?</p><p>You were trouble. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>During the next thirty minutes, Charlie showed you around the building. There wasn't much to see at the moment but he wanted you to at least be able to navigate through it if he weren't around. He showed you the prop/costume room that was almost impossible to even walk through due to the amount of stuff inside of it and he showed you his 'office' area that he shared with various other people who had rooms in the building outside of the company.</p><p>Also, during that half an hour, the tension between you and Charlie only heightened, it was palpable now. Feeling you squeeze past him in small doorways, watching you walk in front of him on the stairs, the way you would giggle or grin at him while he spoke to you... You were already a distraction and you hadn't even been here an hour. And the worst part was, you weren't even <em>trying</em>. You were just existing and you were overwhelming him.</p><p>"So, you just moved here, right?" Charlie asked, "You probably don't know many people then."</p><p>You were currently with him in the rehearsal space, him standing up behind a table scattered with papers, sifting through them, while you sat on a folding chair, waiting for everyone else to arrive so the day could begin.</p><p>"Yeah." You sighed, answering his question, "This is my first time away from home..It's definitely an adjustment." You tried to hide the sad tone of your voice. No matter how much you wanted to live here, it had been your dream, a part of you would always be homesick.</p><p>"You're actually probably the first person I've formally met since I've moved here." You said, growing slightly embarrassed by the admission.</p><p>Charlie raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's a lot of pressure...I hope I wasn't a disappointment." He joked with a shrug.</p><p>You grinned, biting your lip to keep yourself from really saying what you were thinking. Getting a job from an attractive theater director was far from disappointing. "No, you aren't disappointing at all." You answered him honestly.</p><p>Your earnestness caught him off guard, you were so different from the people he was used to being around. A breath of fresh air. "You'll start meeting people. It took me a while to feel settled in." He assured you, thinking back on it, eyes scanning a note in front of him.</p><p>It seemed like so long ago since he moved here. Really, it sort of was, everything was so different now.</p><p>"You do feel settled now, though, right?" You asked quietly, glancing over at him. "I mean...this city is just really overwhelming to me, I can't imagine myself ever calling it home." Your tone of voice was sad, fingers running along the ridge of the coffee in your hands.</p><p>Charlie looked over at you now, sensing the way that you mood shifted negatively. It was the first time all morning that you'd been anything but thrilled and he didn't like it, it was better when you were smiling. "I do feel settled." He answered your question, his voice more soothing than he even realized. His answer echoed in his head. He had the family and the job but did he really feel...<em>settled</em>? He was more restless than ever.</p><p>You perked up at that. "That's good." You decided. Your eyes went to the papers in his hand, his wedding band glinting slightly under the overhead lights. "I mean, at least you're married...Do you have any kids?" You asked, being nosey, you were lonely and trying to vicariously live through him for a moment.</p><p>Charlie nodded, choosing to think about his son over his marriage at this moment. "I do, a son." He grinned and the way he lit up made you smile too.</p><p>"And what about your wife? What does she do?" You asked, wanting to know more about Charlie and his life.</p><p>At the mention of Nicole, Charlie's smile faltered without even meaning it to and you pretended not to notice. "She's an actress." He told you simply then looked down at the papers in his hands again, needing a distraction from the way he was thinking about their fight the night before.</p><p>"Oh." You said, eyebrows raised. You stared at Charlie and tried to imagine his wife, an actress. God, she was probably so gorgeous, you thought to yourself. Why did that make you jealous? You almost laughed out loud at yourself, realizing that you felt like a teenager.</p><p>"She's still deciding but most likely, she'll be starring in our next project here." Charlie explained to you, "You can meet her then."</p><p>You nodded, thinking about it. Charlie was so handsome and seemed like a good guy so far, his wife was probably perfect and his son too. You felt lonelier than ever.</p><p>Charlie tried not to frown too deeply as he set the script down that he'd been looking over. He couldn't focus now. He was thinking about the realization he made the night before as him and Nicole had their petty argument while he made dinner. His marriage was falling apart. His hand trembled at the thought as he brought his coffee cup up to his lips.</p><p>You were lost in your thoughts too, staring out of the window across from you to the busy city. This was a huge day for you but it was just an average day for Charlie. You couldn't wait until you were like him, just <em>living</em>. You were tired of struggling.</p><p>You had no idea how close your feelings were to his.</p><p>Both of your lives were in an isolated chaos.</p><p>You both felt so alone.</p><p>There was a heavy silence in the air and the two of you locked eyes, opening your mouths as if to break the tension but you were interrupted by the sound of the door opening and loud conversations taking its place.</p><p>Charlie sent you an embarrassed smile, knowing that what you were about to experience was going to be <em>a lot</em>. He had meant to warn you beforehand that his actors and the rest of the workers all had big personalities but he'd been distracted by the tour he gave you and also by your legs and your smile.</p><p>You were confused by the look Charlie was giving you for only a second because the people who had just entered the room started yelling in your direction and you suddenly understood.</p><p>It was hard to discern exactly what was being said but you had been able to make out, 'Hey!' and 'It's the intern!', and other phrases similar to that.</p><p>You let out a nervous chuckle, unsure of what to do because now everyone's eyes were on you and they were approaching you. You set your coffee on the table Charlie was standing behind so you could stand and start shaking everyone's hands. He instantly grabbed for the cup, moving it in closer to the middle of the table so that you didn't accidentally bump it off of the side.</p><p>You introduced yourself to everyone, shaking everyone's hands. You wouldn't remember any of their names, you realized, they were saying them too quickly and there were too many people.</p><p>Once the immediate greetings were out of the way, most of them backed off of you to give you space, going their separate ways to start getting ready to rehearse for the day.</p><p>Kyle, the young handsome actor, was sticking around though. He had a look on his face that he meant to be charming but it came across just cocky, his eyes scanning up and down your body. He repeated your name, saying it as though it pleased him just to hear it. "A director, huh? You sure you aren't an actress?" He asked, trying to compliment you.</p><p>Charlie tried not to eavesdrop but the two of you were right in front of him, he didn't have a choice but to listen to the conversation as much as he'd rather not have to witness it.</p><p>You shook your head, smiling at him nervously, fingers fidgeting with each other. "I used to act but it's not my thing. I like being behind the scenes." You explained with a shrug.</p><p>Kyle grinned, "That's too bad. You'd look good on that stage." He said, blatantly flirting. He was attractive and he wasn't used to women not flirting right back with him, he didn't expect you to be any different.</p><p>You felt your skin heat up, uncomfortable with the idea of someone at your new workplace talking to you like that, especially so soon. Although you were just an intern and the atmosphere here was casual, it felt wrong still. Your eyes briefly went to Charlie, to see if he was listening.</p><p>Charlie heard everything and seeing the anxiety on your face, he knew it was time for him to step in. "Okay, that's enough." He said, moving from his spot behind the table to your side so that he could stand closer to the two of you. "Go get ready to run some lines," He instructed Kyle.</p><p>The younger man raised an eyebrow, irritated that his fun was being ruined but said nothing. Instead he looked back to you and gave you a wink before heading off to where the other actors were doing some discussion.</p><p>Charlie ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "I'm sorry." He told you, shaking his head. "I told him not to be a creep but he did it anyway." He said, realizing that he put a little too much faith in Kyle to act like a normal human being. "I can talk to him if you want me to."</p><p>You shook your head quickly, the last thing you wanted was for your co-workers to look at you like you were a problem. "That's okay, I don't want you to do that." You assured him.</p><p>Charlie narrowed his eyes at you, observing you to see if you were telling the truth. You didn't make any indications of lying so he gave you a slow nod. "Okay. I just want you to know that I'm keeping an eye out for him. Let me know if he makes you uncomfortable."</p><p>You were nervous, not because of an almost stranger hitting on you but because of the protectiveness that Charlie was displaying. You knew he was just trying to make you comfortable, trying to be a good boss. But with the way that you were already so attracted to him, it formed butterflies in your stomach. "Okay." You agreed with him, suddenly shy from all of the attention you had just received.</p><p>Charlie swallowed hard at the way you were growing timid, staring up at him with those wide eyes. He felt responsible for you somehow. Maybe it was because he was your boss and this was your first job in New York. Or maybe it was because you were trying your best to adjust to city life and he'd been in your shoes before and knew how hard it was. Or <em>maybe </em>it was because you were so fucking adorable and he was starved for any sort of romantic attention and here you were in front of him.</p><p>"Um," He was sidetracked, hand on his chin as he tried to steer his thoughts back in the right direction. "Right, so, for today, you can just watch what I do. I'll have you help me with some small things but you can just relax and get used to everything, alright?"</p><p>"Sure." You told him, you could handle that. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>For the rest of the morning you, for lack of a better term, followed Charlie around like a lost puppy. You were in awe of how well he could handle this loud room full of people. He was authoritative and demanded respect but in a way that made him still so likable and charming, he didn't even try either. It was just so natural for him, it was exactly what you wanted to be.</p><p>When it came time for lunch, everyone was discussing where they wanted to go. You weren't really listening to details because it put you on edge. You had no input to give because you hadn't really been anywhere yet and you weren't sure if you were even invited to join. You felt like you were back in middle school, trying to find a spot in the cafeteria.</p><p>You were pretending to be busy with something in your purse, noticing how Kyle was beginning to approach you.</p><p>"Hey." He greeted you, that same cocky smile on his face, "You're coming with us, right? There's this place down the street that we usually go to on Wednesdays, I wanna show you it."</p><p>You glanced at the group of people getting ready to head out and you were disappointed that Charlie wasn't part of them. Really, you'd rather just skip lunch than awkwardly sit with strangers and Kyle who was clearly trying to get to know you better than you were trying to get to know him. "Oh, um-" You were interrupted by a voice coming from behind you.</p><p>"What's going on?" Charlie asked, noticing the way that Kyle got you alone again. Charlie had left you for three minutes tops and the younger actor was already swooping in, it was exasperating.</p><p>"She was just getting ready to go get lunch with us, right?" Kyle asked you, taking your lack of a response earlier as a 'yes'.</p><p>You didn't say anything for a second, trying to figure out how you could make an excuse to get out of this. You noticed the way that Charlie had a paper bag in his hands, his lunch most likely.</p><p>Charlie was able to pick up on your uncomfortableness and he took control. "Actually, I was hoping you could stay back today and help me with something." He said casually, lying, "Sorry, I should've told you that earlier."</p><p>You were thankful, audibly sighing in relief. "Oh, no problem." You told him then sent an apologetic look to Kyle. "Maybe tomorrow?" You offered him weakly.</p><p>Kyle was oblivious to your hesitation. He sent you that same damn grin and nodded, "Tomorrow, then. It's a date." He told you, giving you a brief nod before turning on his heels and joining everyone else who was leaving.</p><p>Soon, it was just the two of you again.</p><p>"Come with me, I want to show you the stage." Charlie told you.</p><p>He didn't have to repeat himself. You'd follow him anywhere. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>The two of you were now in the black box theater, where his upcoming show would eventually be performed in. The stage wasn't very high up from the ground but you two were both sitting on the edge of it, his knees practically up to his chest because his legs were so long.</p><p>"What did you need my help with?" You asked him, resting your weight on your palms behind you.</p><p>"Oh." Charlie chuckled, remembering the lie that he told Kyle. "I don't need your help with anything, it just seemed like you were looking for an excuse to not go with them. I hope that's okay."</p><p>You were thankful and surprised by this. You should've known, you realized. But he had been so smooth and instinctual about it, you hadn't given it a second thought. "So...you don't have anything to work on either?" You asked, noticing the way he started pulling food out of his paper bag.</p><p>"Right now I'm going to work on lunch." He told you, an easy smile on his face, "I'm assuming you didn't bring anything?"</p><p>You frowned. Should you have? You had no idea how these things worked. "I didn't."</p><p>Charlie peered into the bag and pulled out a sandwich, holding it out to you. "I have to admit, it's not my best work but I was already making peanut butter and jelly for my son."</p><p>You hesitated, blinking. He was offering you his food? You really hoped you didn't look as enamored as you felt. "What will you eat?" You asked him, concerned.</p><p>Charlie had a smirk on his face as he pulled out a second sandwich, identical to the one he was offering you. "I always make two."</p><p>You bit your lip, letting yourself laugh at that as you took the food from him. Him eating two sandwiches for lunch somehow didn't surprise you.</p><p>Charlie had to hold himself back from groaning at how cute you were, giggling in front of him. There was nothing sexual about this, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches together, but yet he felt this tension rise again, as if the temperature in the room went up a few notches.</p><p>"Thank you, Mr.Barber." You said gratefully, not even realizing your mistake because you were so caught up in all the ways that Charlie had just taken care of you.</p><p>Charlie inhaled sharply at those words. It was still surprising to him that hearing you say it turned him on so much. "Didn't we talk about that?" He asked you in a voice that made it sound like he was scolding you, disappointed.</p><p>Your eyebrows knitted together in confusion but then it dawned on you. You swallowed hard, you were just as turned on as he was due to the way that he was staring down at you with a stern expression. Your mind instantly went to all the ways he should be 'punishing you' for your mistake. But you tried to push that away, it was so inappropriate for so many reasons.</p><p>"Sorry." You said sheepishly. "Thanks, Charlie." You corrected yourself. You crossed a leg over the other, fidgeting, trying not to show how nervous you were.</p><p>Charlie's eyes were glued to your legs, noticing the way that your skirt rode up slightly when you recrossed your thighs over the other. He wasn't the type of man to do this, to have these urges and thoughts about someone he shouldn't. But he was so lonely and you were so gorgeous and close to him and hanging on his every word...It had been so long since he'd had someone's attention who looked like you.</p><p>"No problem." He answered you in a casual way, as if his thoughts weren't racing. "I'm sorry it's a little kid sandwich, though, I promise I can do better." He tried to lighten the mood.</p><p>You chuckled again at that causing Charlie to hold back another groan, he loved your laugh. "That's okay. I don't even have a microwave yet so I'm used to food like this right now." You admitted to him.</p><p>Charlie frowned, "What do you eat then?" He took a bite of his own food in his hand.</p><p>You thought about it for a moment, "Well, honestly, I haven't eaten much lately. I've been so stressed trying to figure everything out." It was something that hadn't been brought to your attention until now. If you weren't ordering take out every now and then, your meals usually consisted of a few bites of something in between existential crises.</p><p>He was glad to have something on his mind other than the idea of your legs wrapped around his waist. "I'll bring you something tomorrow." He offered though he said it in a way that you let you know you wouldn't be able to say no, "My son barely eats anything, we always have leftovers that end up getting thrown out" He informed you in between big bites of his food.</p><p>Those damn butterflies were back again in your stomach. "No, you don't have to do that."</p><p>Charlie rolled his eyes at you slightly, finishing the sandwich that you had barely had a chance to take a few bites of. "I don't <em>have</em> to. But I want to." He locked eyes with you for a second, overwhelmed by your stare he continued, "I can't have my new intern passing out during her second day on the job." He teased you.</p><p>You were embarrassed by how big you were smiling. "Okay-" You cut yourself off, almost saying it again: Mr.Barber. "<em>Charlie</em>." You were able to correct yourself before the mistake was even made.</p><p>Your eyes were on each other's again, matching grins on the both of your faces.</p><p>Both of you were happy and neither of you were really sure why. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>The rest of the day at work had been pretty busy. You and Charlie didn't have any more alone time but that didn't stop the way that you found it impossible to take your eyes off of him throughout the entire rehearsal, loving the way that he had everything under control.</p><p>"Big plans tonight to celebrate your first day?" One of the actresses asked you as everyone was getting their belongings together, ready to leave.</p><p>You sighed and shook your head, "No. I have an interview, actually." You informed her, "Gotta get a paying job, you know?" As much as you would love to only have this internship, you needed a way to actually pay your bills.</p><p>The woman winced and nodded, "I remember those days." She put a gentle hand on your shoulder and a smile, "Good luck." She said to you sincerely.</p><p>"Thank you." You said slowly, surprised by how nice everyone had been to you today. New York was tough but the theater company wasn't, you felt comfortable here.</p><p>As you pulled your purse over your shoulder, you scanned the room to see where Charlie was. He was in the middle of a conversation, well multiple conversations actually. He had his phone up to his ear while he also talked to one of the costume designers, sifting through different fabrics while he handled whatever call he was on.</p><p>You felt bad, you couldn't interrupt him and add more stress to his already hectic situation. But you did want to thank him for helping you so much throughout the day today.</p><p>You made your way to the door and waved to Charlie, trying to get his attention.</p><p>He noticed you out of the corner of his eye and you were able to read his lips saying, 'one second', and then he had the phone away from his face, pressing it against his shoulder to muffle the noise. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Same time." He called out to you, a smile on his face.</p><p>"Have a good night!" You called out to him, sending another wave before making your way out of the door, heading towards the exit stairwell. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>When Charlie got home for the night, he sighed in relief when he saw dinner was already almost finished. It wasn't something that he expected but he was thankful that it was something that wouldn't start an argument again.</p><p>"Hi." He greeted Nicole pleasantly, "You made dinner?" He asked in surprise, looking over his shoulder so that he was able to look into the pan at what she was making.</p><p>"Hey." Nicole said to him, glancing over at him, "I just made that pasta stuff Henry likes. There's vegetables for us too but I don't think he'll touch them."</p><p>Charlie couldn't help but laugh at the thought of it, "He won't." He agreed as he went to the fridge to grab a beer, "Want me to get him?" He asked, noticing that the food looked pretty much done.</p><p>"Oh, sure, thank you." Nicole said gratefully, then raised an eyebrow, "You're in a good mood." She observed. Usually he came home with a big sigh, slamming his bag on the table and instantly complaining about how long his day was.</p><p>Charlie paused his movements of bringing the bottle to his lips, thinking about it. He shrugged in response as he made his way back to his son's bedroom. He had a feeling that he knew why his mood was lighter...Your smile popped into his brain and he felt guilty.</p><p>He knocked on Henry's door frame, peeking his head into the open door to see him on the ground playing with some action figures. "Hi, I'm home." Charlie announced.</p><p>Henry barely glanced up at him, "Hi." He said back, uninterested.</p><p>Charlie frowned, his good mood depleting before his very eyes. "Dinner's ready." He said dejectedly.</p><p>At the mention of food, Henry was interested again, hopping up from the floor and rushing past Charlie in his doorway so that he could make his way to the kitchen.</p><p>Charlie watched after his son with a sigh, following his lead and taking a seat with him at the table where Nicole had set plates up already.</p><p>"We have about forty five minutes until the babysitter gets here." Nicole said, pouring a glass of water for Henry.</p><p>Charlie groaned, forgetting about that. The interview with their potential new babysitter. "Dammit, okay sure, that's fine." He said, reaching over the table to help Henry with his napkin.</p><p>"Well, I'd hope so." Nicole said, frowning, "It's not like we made the plans a few days ago or anything." She said passive aggressively. Charlie always acted like he was the one to come up with ideas or plans when in reality that wasn't always the case and it drove her crazy.</p><p>Charlie sent her a look that said, 'not now'. He hated fighting in front of their son.</p><p>"Babysitter? " Henry asked, ears perking up when he realized that this conversation might involve him at some capacity. "I already have one."</p><p>"She can only watch you during the day now." Nicole explained, reaching to cut up some food on his plate for him. "You need someone to watch you at nights or on the weekends."</p><p>"Who is she?" Charlie asked, talking about the babysitter.</p><p>Nicole shrugged, "I can't remember her name, remind me to check before she shows up...She's young, I don't know, I can't remember much else. I found her on that babysitting website."</p><p>Charlie nodded, realizing how much of a mess the two of them really were. When they found their first babysitter, they did extensive research on them, getting recommendations from all of their friends with kids. But now they were just choosing a random person from a website. Everything was so different now.</p><p>They were both struggling and trying their best to keep their family together.</p><p>Charlie and Nicole were sitting on the couch, in silence besides the sound of the television playing in the background, while Henry played on the ground on his ipad. They were waiting for the babysitter to show up and now that there wasn't dinner in front of them to preoccupy their minds, there was really nothing to talk about.</p><p>Well, that wasn't true. There were many things that the two could discuss, how their days went at the very least. But they were both too afraid to start an argument before a stranger entered their home, embarrassed that someone they didn't know would have to witness that.</p><p>"You probably shouldn't have a beer while we do this." Nicole noted, nodding to the bottle in Charlie's hands.</p><p>He was about to defend himself but it wasn't important enough, she was probably right anyways. Charlie made a noise of agreement, tipping the bottle back to finish it as he stood up to walk into the kitchen to throw it away.</p><p>He tossed the empty beer bottle into the recycling bin and he couldn't help but smirk slightly to himself when he saw the leftovers from dinner cooling down in the tupperware he put them into. He wasn't just saying it when he said he was going to bring you food tomorrow.</p><p>While still standing in the kitchen, Charlie let his mind stay focused on you. He couldn't remember the last time he was like this, he felt like a high school boy with a crush. He barely even knew you. It was something that he didn't think he'd ever be able to feel again, it had been <em>years</em>.</p><p>There was a knock on the door and then Nicole yelling out a hushed, "She's here!"</p><p>Charlie sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to get his thoughts back on track, aka: get your face out of his mind.</p><p>He heard the front door open and as he turned the corner into the living room, he froze in place.</p><p>"This is my husband Charlie." Nicole introduced him, ignoring the way that he looked like a deer in headlights.</p><p>Standing in his doorway, with your wide eyes and little skirt, was you.</p><p>The new babysitter.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Good Girl</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You never thought that you would get the opportunity to be inside Charlie Barber's apartment.</p><p>But yet, here you were. Standing in his doorway.</p><p>His son's babysitter.</p><p>"Oh." You said lamely, unsure of exactly how you were supposed to respond after Nicole introduced you to the man who you had just spent your entire day with.</p><p>Nicole faltered, confused by your reaction and glanced over at Charlie who was nervously running a hand through his hair.</p><p>All of the dirty thoughts that Charlie had been having about you earlier that day hadn't been a big deal to him at the time because they'd been so separate from his home life. Before now, to him, you only existed at work.</p><p>But now you were in his actual home and you were talking to his wife and this was all just too much for him.</p><p>"We've met." He said, just as dumbly as you had. He couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of this, the fact that you had been in his thoughts all night and somehow you were in his apartment, as if he summoned you here.</p><p>"She's my new intern." Charlie explained, "She just started today, actually, this is a very... weird coincidence." He was looking in between you and Nicole, trying not to show how absolutely flustered he was.</p><p>Nicole understood now and she was embarrassed. It was clear now that they hadn't done much research as a couple on you, she hadn't even been able to recall your name to tell Charlie. She didn't like you seeing how underprepared they were.</p><p>"Oh." She said in surprise, feeling just as awkward and out of place as the two of you did. "Well that's funny," She forced a laugh that somehow seemed so natural, "I guess we didn't put two and two together." She tried to explain herself.</p><p>You weren't finding this as humorous as they were. You needed this job, it was the one of the only things that worked with the small amount of hours you had available in the day. "I understand if..." You trailed off, unsure exactly how to word it, "You want to find someone else? I don't know if this is what you were looking for..." You felt so awkward.</p><p>You were exactly what Charlie was looking for, but that wasn't really what you were asking.</p><p>Charlie wasn't really sure how to respond to that, he looked to Nicole for guidance, to see what she thought about this. As much as he wanted you around, he didn't know if it was the best idea to mix his personal life with his professional life in this way.</p><p>"Do you mind if we talk alone for a second?" Nicole asked you sheepishly, feeling bad that her mistake of not remembering your name or anything about you was a reason why you might have wasted your time coming here.</p><p>"Sure." You shrugged, you understood why they'd need to, even if this made everything very uncomfortable for you.</p><p>The two of them turned and went into the kitchen and you found yourself awkwardly standing in the middle of their living room.</p><p>"Are you my new babysitter?" Henry asked, staring up at you.</p><p>"I'm not sure, maybe." You answered with a shrug, being honest. You looked down to see what he was doing, playing with something. You introduced yourself and Henry told you his name in return.</p><p>You carefully moved onto the ground, joining him, "Are these Legos?" You asked, pretending to be excited about it, for his sake.</p><p>Henry lit up, happy that someone was paying attention to him. "Yeah, let me show you!" He said, thrilled. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In the kitchen, Nicole and Charlie were talking in hushed, whispered tones, making sure that you weren't able to hear what they were saying.</p><p>"I feel so bad." Nicole sighed, knowing that you were probably feeling extremely awkward and she was right, you were.</p><p>"You couldn't have known." Charlie assured her but he didn't say it out loud, he knew that it partly was her fault since she hadn't told Charlie your name. If she would've said it, he would've warned her that you were his intern.</p><p>"Well, what do you think? There's not a lot of people available at the times she is." Nicole asked, glancing towards the living room where she could hear you talking to Henry, "But you probably don't want someone from work in our house all the time, do you?"</p><p>Charlie ran a frustrated hand over his face, thinking about it. If it were anyone else, any other intern he'd ever had, he would shut it down. He liked keeping his work at work and away from his time off. But then he thought about how much you were struggling. He wasn't able to pay you for the internship but this would be an opportunity for you to make money...He would feel so guilty if he took away your chance at an income.</p><p>"What if we tried it?" Charlie suggested.</p><p>Nicole was surprised. It seemed unlike Charlie to be okay with this. "Really?" She asked.</p><p>Charlie moved slightly so that he could glance into the living room to see you and Henry together. You were on the floor, legs crossed over each other in your skirt, leaning forward so that you could play with Henry's Legos.</p><p>His son was laughing and smiling and acting more excited than Charlie had seen him in a very long time. He noticed the smile on your face as well and he found a small one growing on his at the sight of it.</p><p>"Oh, I see what's going on." Nicole said, smirking slightly as she moved so that she was able to look into the living room as well. "I didn't know you had a crush on her." She said, in a jokingly accusing way.</p><p>Charlie practically jumped in surprise at that. "What?" He asked, a little too quickly and a little too loud. "No, I don't." He said defensively.</p><p>You heard some commotion in the kitchen and you glanced up but by the time you looked in the doorway, Charlie and Nicole had moved back out of your sight, quieting down.</p><p>"I was just kidding." Nicole said to him, eyes narrowing suspiciously at his reaction. She didn't think much of it. You were gorgeous and young and in her mind, she didn't think she had anything to worry about. You would never be interested in Charlie. And it wasn't his fault that he thought you were pretty, you were, there was no denying it. It was amusing to her, if anything.</p><p>"Don't do that." Charlie warned her, swallowing hard, "Don't make me feel like a creep when I didn't do anything wrong." He said, his seriousness a contrast between the playful smile on her face.</p><p>"I never said you did." She told him, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>Charlie said nothing now, knowing he was digging himself into a hole here.</p><p>"So...let's try it?" Nicole asked, continuing the original reason why they were alone in the kitchen in the first place.</p><p>Now that he was flustered from being called out, he almost changed his mind and decided that it was a bad idea for you to be around so much. But then he moved and glanced back at you and the way that Henry was laughing and waving his toys around, happy.</p><p>"Yeah, why not?" Charlie shrugged, his eyes staying on you as he said so. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Over the next hour, you discussed the logistics of how this was going to go with Charlie and Nicole. They shared with you that Henry's original babysitter was getting older and she needed more time off, she only wanted to watch him when he needed it during the day. Your schedule fit perfectly, you were at the theater when the other babysitter was around and then when they needed it, you'd watch Henry after work and on the weekends.</p><p>They ran you through Henry's routine at night, where you could find things you might need, and other information that would be helpful when watching him and staying alone in their apartment to do so.</p><p>The entire time they spoke to you, you couldn't help but notice how different Charlie acted with Nicole being around.</p><p>He was still himself, it wasn't like he was hiding anything. But he was smaller somehow. When he was in the theater, he demanded everyone's attention and he spoke his mind right away. Now, on his couch sitting next to his wife you noticed the way that he was quieter. He didn't want to say anything that would cause an argument with her in front of you.</p><p>After they went through everything and the three of you had a few minutes of small talk while Nicole got to know you better, there was an awkward silence.</p><p>"Before bed, I get to eat a bowl of cereal." Henry said matter of factly, knocking down his tower of blocks and sending them all over the room.</p><p>"No you don't." Charlie said, pursing his lips to keep from laughing at the way that his son was trying to trick you into getting him a snack before bed. He didn't want to encourage it but it was funny.</p><p>Henry just laughed in response, knowing that he got caught. It was worth a shot.</p><p>"What's the best kind of cereal?" You asked Henry, also trying not to laugh at him attempting to take advantage of the fact that he had a new person watching him..</p><p>"Fruity Pebbles." He said, gathering up the Legos he had just made a mess with.</p><p>"Hmm." You pretended to think about it, "Do you know which cereal is better than Fruity Pebbles?"</p><p>"Which one?" Henry asked, interested.</p><p>"Frosted Flakes." You and Charlie answered him at the same exact time.</p><p>You two made eye contact, grinning at the way you had just spoken in unison. Cute.</p><p>"Mom hates those." Henry said, building his tower up again.</p><p>You ignored the butterflies you felt after sharing that moment with Charlie. It was so stupid, you guys both decided to say the name of a cereal at the same time, no big deal. But you had such a crush on him that something that trivial was enough to make you feel giddy.</p><p>"Yeah I do hate that cereal," Nicole agreed with Henry, her eyes glancing between the two of you, "Must be a director thing." She said with a shrug, trying to ignore the slight pang of jealousy that she was experiencing. It felt like it had been such a long time since her and Charlie bonded over something that she would even be happy with them agreeing over fucking cereal too, at this point.</p><p>You felt the tension creep into the room. There was some pull between you and Charlie now, after sharing that moment. And now uncomfortable energy from Nicole as she watched it happen in front of her.</p><p>You pretended to check the time on a clock hanging on their wall. "I don't want to hang around here too long and bother you guys." You offered them, giving them an opportunity to tell you when the next time they needed you would be.</p><p>"Actually," Nicole was thinking, glancing over at the clock across the room as well, "I was going to lay in bed and go over some things...I know Charlie always has work to do. Would you mind watching Henry for another hour or so then putting him to bed? It would be a huge help." She asked you.</p><p>Really, it was sort of a test. She wanted to see how you were with Henry when her and Charlie weren't staring at you. But of course she wasn't going to say that to you and add that pressure.</p><p>You got the hint. "Oh, sure, no problem." You told her. You really didn't mind. It wasn't like you were dying to get back to your tiny apartment all alone.</p><p>Nicole then let you know that she would send you a schedule tomorrow of times you were supposed to watch Henry and also let you know that she'd be in the bedroom if you needed anything before walking into said room.</p><p>"Um," Charlie faltered for a moment. It was just you, him, and his son now. It was still so strange for him to be around you in this setting. His mind all day at work had wandered to your legs, your laugh, the way you looked up at him...It had been so hard for him to focus and it was even more difficult now that you were in a place as familiar to him as his living room.</p><p>"I'll be in the kitchen." He told you, tilting his head over in the direction of it, "Working on a few things...Do you want some water or anything?" He asked you, hand on his chin as he thought about it.</p><p>"I'm okay, thanks." You told him. You moved from the seat you had been sitting in, to the ground where Henry was.</p><p>"I want water." Henry said, glancing up at his dad before looking back down to what he was playing with, "And can I have the iPad now?"</p><p>When Charlie came back from the kitchen with the iPad and glass of water in his hand for Henry, he decided to hand them to you.</p><p>You had a lego in your hand so when you went to grab the glass, it was hard for you to grip the cup and the lego. "Oh sh-" You interrupted yourself before you actually said 'shit' out loud.</p><p>Charlie quickly grabbed at the cup that you were struggling with, his large hand covering over yours as he did so. After steadying it enough so that you wouldn't spill it, you two locked eyes with each other, realizing that you were touching. It was similar to what happened that morning, when Charlie offered you his hand to help you up. There was that electricity, this feeling of longing just being able to touch each other.</p><p>You wanted to keep your hand inside Charlie's. You wanted to be alone with him and you wanted Charlie to put his hands all over you, under your skirt, under your panties...</p><p>"Do you like Pokemon?" Your moment was interrupted by Henry, pulling up a game on the screen in his hands.</p><p>"Um," You jumped slightly, forgetting where you were. "I think so, Henry. Why don't you show me?" You asked him, able to set the water down on the table closest to you from your spot on the floor.</p><p>Your eyes glanced up at Charlie as you moved in closer to the iPad. Charlie was already staring down at you, jaw clenched at the thoughts running through his mind. This was going to be a lot more difficult than he originally thought. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Over the next hour, Charlie sat at the kitchen table, trying to focus on his work in front of him instead of the ideas he had, knowing that you were in the next room over. He was able to hear you and Henry talking and he couldn't help but notice how much different you were when you interacted with his son, than Nicole was.</p><p>Nicole loved to play with Henry, she was always proud of her ability to have fun with him no matter what their situation was. She was good at it.</p><p>But your interactions were more meaningful. He listened to the way that you would gently correct Henry when he said something grammatically incorrect or a little too loud. He listened to the way that you would compliment specific details like his ability to read quickly or his ability to explain directions of the game he was playing.</p><p>It made Charlie happy but it also made him feel almost inadequate that there were clearly areas of his and Nicole's parenting that were lacking because they were both so caught up in themselves.</p><p>Earlier at work he realized how much he needed someone around that was as eager and excited as you were. And now, Charlie was realizing how much they needed you around the house.</p><p>Really, Charlie just needed you, more than he even realized in that moment. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>You were pretty proud of yourself, really. You had put Henry to bed, almost with no help at all. You remembered Nicole's instructions from earlier and you helped him brush his teeth, got out pajamas for him, and tucked him into bed.</p><p>And you had only thought about fucking Charlie Barber...twice? It could've been a lot worse.</p><p>When you were finished, you went to Nicole and Charlie's bedroom, glancing inside. You wanted to thank Nicole for everything and let her know that you were finished. She was fast asleep in bed, a script laying on her chest.</p><p>You frowned, hesitating. You shouldn't wake her up, you decided. Instead, you made your way back into the living room, wanting to find Charlie where you assumed he was in the kitchen. But as you passed their patio door, you saw him standing outside on the balcony.</p><p>You paused, taking the time to look at him, really look at him. He was still in his clothes from work, a button down shirt and pants with a cardigan, a watch on his wrist. As he shifted you were surprised to see that he had a cigarette in between his fingers, blowing smoke out of the side of his mouth as he looked down at the city below.</p><p>He really had no idea how attractive he was.</p><p>Walking over to the patio door, you cautiously opened it, not wanting to startle him.</p><p>Even though you'd done it quietly and slowly, Charlie still jumped at the sight of you standing on the other side of the glass. It was weird to see you in his home.</p><p>"Hi." You smiled sheepishly, peaking your head out of the door. "Sorry, I wanted to let you know I was heading out."</p><p>Charlie motioned for you to come join him on the balcony, "Don't let the smoke in." He told you, knowing that he would never hear the end of it from Nicole if you did. He went to put out the cigarette in his make-shift ashtray (an empty beer can), but you put a hand up to stop him.</p><p>"You don't have to. I don't mind it." You said to him, talking about the smoke. Honestly, the idea of Charlie smoking was a turn on for you. Maybe it was just because everything he did turned you on. But the idea of him smoking a cigarette seemed out of character. Like he was doing something he shouldn't be. You wondered what else he was willing to do that he shouldn't...</p><p>"You sure?" Charlie asked, holding up the cigarette.</p><p>You shrugged, joining him against the railing of the balcony so that you could look down at the view, "Doesn't bother me." You reiterated.</p><p>Charlie hummed in thought at that. Nicole hated when he smoked, it was the reason why he had to sneak out and do it once she was asleep.</p><p>"I didn't mean to interrupt you," You told him, your eyes stayed on the city below, nervous to look over at him right now. "I tried to say goodbye to Nicole but she was asleep." You told him, finally glancing in his direction.</p><p>That was a mistake because looking at him made your skin heat up. He was leaning against the balcony like you were and exhaling, smoke coming out of his nostrils as he did so, the cigarette itself resting lazily in his fingers. He looked so good, it wasn't fair.</p><p>"Oh, how'd it go?" Charlie asked, talking about putting Henry to bed, "Did he give you shit about that toothpaste? He's going through a phase where he pretends it's too 'spicy'." He shrugged, chuckling a little at it.</p><p>You shook your head, chuckling at it too. "No, he didn't complain at all."</p><p>There were a few beats of silence as Charlie thought things over, "You know, if you aren't comfortable with this..." He glanced at you and felt the need to explain what he meant, "With watching Henry, don't feel obligated...I know you didn't realize you were watching my son so it's okay if you want to find a different job, I could recommend you to people I know."</p><p>Honestly, it probably would've been a good idea for you to find a different babysitting job. Spending this much time with Charlie was dangerous. But still, you found yourself saying, "Oh, it's no problem. As long as you're okay with it, I'm okay with it." You told him, glancing over at him with wide eyes. You were nervous he was rethinking his decision.</p><p>"No, it's fine with me." Charlie assured you, taking another drag from the cigarette, "You're really good with him. Actually, you're a lot better than his normal babysitter. I wish we would've hired you years ago."</p><p>You couldn't help but smile at that, biting your lip to keep it from spreading across your face as much as it could've. "Years ago I was living almost fifteen hours away in the middle of a fucking corn field." You said then remembered who you were talking to and you frowned, "Sorry." You added.</p><p>"Don't apologize." Charlie said quickly. You seemed so innocent and hearing you say 'fuck' made his stomach twist in desire. "We aren't in the theater and you put Henry to bed...In my eyes, you're off the clock." He teased you, meaning you could cuss as much as you wanted.</p><p>You laughed at that, at the idea that he was an entirely different person now that you weren't technically working. As much as you wanted him, he was still Mr.Barber in your eyes.</p><p>Charlie kept his eyes on you as he inhaled some more smoke, needing something to preoccupy his mind from the dirty thoughts he was having so soon after hearing you cuss and now from the way you were giggling in front of him.</p><p>There was a long moment of silence now as you looked at the cars passing below you and Charlie was, really, watching you. He was taking in the way that your eyes were dancing, excitedly taking in everything. You weren't cynical yet, you weren't jaded by the city, you were still impressed by it. He remembered those days.</p><p>"You're so lucky." You finally said wistfully.</p><p>Charlie couldn't help but laugh out loud at that, "I'm lucky?" He asked, confused by your statement.</p><p>"Yeah," You confirmed, "You have it all." You looked over at him, tearing your eyes away from the city.</p><p>Charlie said nothing, thinking about that with a slightly amused smile on his lips. He wasn't sure if he ever had that thought before about his life, even at its peak.</p><p>"You have my dream job, a nice apartment, a wife and a kid..." You tapped your fingers against the railing in front of you. "In my eyes, you have the perfect life."</p><p>Charlie felt his heart sink at that. On paper, sure, he did have a perfect life. But it felt so different. He felt like everyday he was struggling to stay afloat, 'lucky' or 'perfect' was the last word that he would ever think to describe his life as.</p><p>"You have it all too, you know." He said, thinking it over. At your look of confusion, he continued, "You're just starting. You have so much time, so many different paths to choose from, so many opportunities..." He trailed off, thinking about what it was like for him when he first moved here, it was so different.</p><p>Charlie tried not to think about all of the choices he would've made at your age if he would've known how his life would've turned out now. Would he have stayed with Nicole for so long? He chose to push that specific thought away. There was no point in thinking about that, it would only hurt him.</p><p>In that moment, the two of you glanced over at each other and wished you could just switch places so badly. You wanted his life, you were working towards eventually getting that type of stability. And at the same time, Charlie wanted to be in your shoes, he wished he could go back in time when things were so new and exciting and he wished he could see what else life had offered him.</p><p>"I don't feel like I have it all." You admitted to him, sadly. "I feel like...I feel like I don't have anything." You moved your gaze to your hands, embarrassed to be saying something so vulnerable in front of someone who was your boss. "I know that sounds dramatic but I live all on my own in a shitty apartment, I have no friends...I'm thankful for these jobs you've given me but I can't be an unpaid intern forever."</p><p>Charlie thought about it, "I know I can't be your friend but...I can help you with what you need, if you need someone to talk to." He offered to you, finding himself somewhat nervous to even say that out loud. He was your boss, on multiple levels, but he had this urge to take care of you. "I've been in your position before, I know how hard it can be."</p><p>You looked over at him, heart speeding up at those words. "Really?" You asked him, melting.</p><p>"Of course." Charlie replied, trying to ignore the way that your reaction was making his heart thump like yours was.</p><p>"I mean, I have my sister," You started explaining in hopes to cut some of the tension, "I talk to her all the time but the conversation always goes to my mom or about how I should be putting myself out there and going on dates...Plus, she never just listens, she always wants to solve my problems for me..." You were rambling, trying to fill the silence because it was igniting this feeling of longing for the man next to you.</p><p>"No boyfriend then?" Charlie asked. He had been listening but all his mind could focus on was your mention of going on dates. It was a casual question, something he'd ask anyone who brought it up first but knowing how much he wanted you...it definitely had more meaning behind it.</p><p>You frowned at that, thinking, "No boyfriend." You agreed. "We ended it right before I moved, actually." Your past relationship was something you tried not to think about, it hurt you too much.</p><p>"Because of distance?" He asked, becoming nosey. Charlie usually didn't care about others personal lives, it was their business, not his. But he found himself wanting to know more about you.</p><p>"No," You sighed, "There were a lot of problems in our relationship, I couldn't remember the last time we were happy with each other but I just kept trying to ignore it, I don't know, I thought maybe it would fix itself...Before I moved I just had one of those moments like... 'What the fuck am I doing?'"</p><p>Your relationship with your ex was toxic and even that was an understatement.</p><p>Charlie listened and found himself relating your statements to his current situation with Nicole. He had those thoughts sometimes too, hoping that things would just fix themselves.</p><p>Then he thought about the last thing you had just said, 'What the fuck am I doing?" and he asked himself the same thing. What was he doing? He was questioning his relationship with his wife while standing on his balcony with his babysitter who he wanted to fuck. He suddenly felt so out of place and so guilty even though he hadn't done anything wrong.</p><p>He moved so that he was no longer facing the city, leaning his back against the railing and taking a long inhale of smoke, looking at you from the corner of his eyes. "You were smart to end it then...You have so much time. There's no point to waste it on something that doesn't make you happy."</p><p>You looked over at him, biting your lip slightly at the way he was closer to you now that he shifted positions. No one ever talked to you like this. Your sister often reassured you that you were doing a good job but there was always a catch. Even though Charlie didn't know you well, hearing him say that you made the right choice and not follow it up with a 'but...', made you feel validated.</p><p>You looked at the expression on Charlie's face. He seemed so lost in his own thoughts, a frown on his lips. "Are you happy?" You found yourself asking, you weren't even sure why.</p><p>Charlie looked at you in surprise. You were staring over at him with widened eyes, curious, you weren't accusing him of anything. He realized then that no one ever talked to him like this either. Nicole never wanted to share how she felt or tell him things from her past. Being able to share his emotions without the need to feel defensive seemed like a distant memory until now.</p><p>He moved again, leaning against the balcony in the way that you were, eyes ahead. He was much closer to you now than he was when you first walked out. Charlie brought the cigarette up to his lips and when he did, he felt the way that his arm brushed against yours. For some reason, he didn't feel the need to move away.</p><p>"I'm not." Charlie said quietly, finally answering your question of if he was happy.</p><p>You swallowed hard at that. It scared you because his life was your dream and what if accomplishing all of that wasn't enough? "With work?" You asked him, trying to figure out what went wrong, what you should be doing differently.</p><p>"No," He sighed, "Work is fine. It's great, actually, I'm happy there."</p><p>You froze, suddenly aware of his arm against yours, the implications of his words hitting you. "With Nicole?" You asked, realizing that it was what he was hinting at. You felt like it was hard to breathe and it had nothing to do with the smoke so close to you. You had noticed it earlier, the way that Charlie didn't seem like himself, the tension you felt being in the same room as him and his wife, the way they had to leave the room to talk alone...</p><p>Charlie wasn't sure if he wanted to say it out loud. Was he happy with Nicole? It was something he had never even admitted to himself but now that he was being asked it so blatantly, he knew his answer. "I'm not happy with Nicole." He said in a soft voice, if you weren't so close to him you wouldn't have even been able to hear it.</p><p>You tried not to react, not wanting him to regret sharing it with you. You didn't say anything, you weren't sure what to say. You looked over at him and were surprised to see him already staring at you, head turned in your direction.</p><p>Your hand gently went to his hand, your fingers brushing against his. You tried to ignore the way Charlie's fingers instantly flexed towards you, meeting your touch. "I'm sorry I asked, I was-"</p><p>You were interrupted by the sound of the sliding glass door swinging open.</p><p>The two of you practically jumped away from each other, heads turning to the source of noise. You two really hadn't been doing anything wrong but you both felt so guilty.</p><p>Henry was standing there in his pajamas, rubbing his eyes in a sleepy way. "Dad, I can't sleep, can you read to me?" He asked.</p><p>You and Charlie were barely listening to him, both reeling at the closeness you had just experienced, the things you said to each other but also the physical closeness of it. Charlie felt like he could still feel your touch on his hand.</p><p>"Oh, um..." Charlie was flustered, trying to make sense of Henry's words while gathering his thoughts about you.</p><p>"I could read to you, Henry." You offered, giving him a gentle smile. You knew it must've taken a lot out of Charlie to admit to you that his marriage was unhappy, you weren't sure if he'd be able to handle putting on a happy face with his son now. You could do it, you could cover for him.</p><p>"Really?" Henry asked, excited.</p><p>"Sure, let's go." You told him, moving towards the open door and ushering him inside, remembering the trouble Charlie would get in for letting in the smoke. As you moved back into the house, you glanced over your shoulder.</p><p>Charlie's eyes were on you, his chest rising and falling at everything he'd just experienced. When his eyes locked on yours, he quickly turned back around so that he didn't have to face the reality of it, the way he wanted you.</p><p>When he was alone again on the small balcony, he felt overwhelmed. He tried to focus on the sounds of the cars and people below him instead of his own thoughts. He just went day by day, he never stopped to think about how he was feeling.</p><p>Charlie grabbed for another cigarette, he went out here to destress from his day and now he was more stressed than he'd been in a long time.</p><p>Having you around was changing everything and you hadn't even been in his life for a week.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>You were sitting on the edge of Henry's bed, legs crossed over the other while you read the story he chose for you. Your mind kept wandering to Charlie, hoping that he was doing alright outside by himself after admitting that to you. You were nervous that he would regret it and be uncomfortable around you now.</p><p>As you read, Charlie was sneaking back inside, trying not to be too loud and wake Nicole up. He made his way back into the hallway where his room was, intending to change his clothes and start getting ready for bed. But then he heard your voice coming from his son's room and he hesitated.</p><p>He made his way over to Henry's room, peeking inside. Your back was turned towards the door, at the end of the bed, so you weren't able to see that he was listening.</p><p>You read a line from the story that mentioned vacuuming and Henry interrupted you, "My dad does that."</p><p>You paused, the image of Charlie vacuuming the apartment in your mind. It was adorable to you and you couldn't even explain why. "He does?" You asked, prompting him to say more.</p><p>"Yeah and he cleans the bathrooms and the clothes." Henry yawned, getting tired. "He cooks food for us too." He told you, also not noticing his dad standing by the doorway.</p><p>Charlie smirked, hearing that. Sometimes he felt like his work around the house went unnoticed, it pleased him that at least his son was aware.</p><p>"That's a lot." You commented, "Your dad works really hard, doesn't he?" You asked, realizing it as well. Charlie did so much during the day at work, you couldn't imagine having to come home and do all of that while dealing with a marriage that was failing.</p><p>Charlie's smirk fell at that, though the feeling in his stomach heightened at your compliment. He did work hard, he couldn't remember the last time someone acknowledged it.</p><p>"I guess." Henry said as he pulled the blankets up higher.</p><p>"Do you ever thank him?" You asked Henry, raising an eyebrow. You assumed the answer was no, what kid Henry's age was self aware enough to thank their parent? But it was worth a shot.</p><p>"No. That's his job." Henry said, as it was obvious, eyes fluttering shut.</p><p>"Well, yeah." You chuckled, "But he works so hard, you should tell him you appreciate it... You know, not everyone's dad..." You trailed off after glancing at him over your shoulder. He was asleep.</p><p>Charlie was frozen in place, listening to your words. He couldn't describe the way it made him feel. All he wanted, deep down, was to be appreciated. And here you were, appreciating him even when he wasn't around to hear it.</p><p>After putting the book onto Henry's shelf and moving to turn off the lamp, you made your way out of his room.</p><p>And you smacked right into Charlie's chest. You wished you could say it was the first time you've done that.</p><p>"Oh." You gasped in surprise then clamped your mouth shut, not wanting to be loud and wake up Henry or Nicole.</p><p>"Sorry." You both said in unison. Also not the first time you've done that.</p><p>Charlie gave you a sheepish smile, holding a finger up to his mouth to remind you to stay quiet. Then he started walking out of the hallway, into the living room and he motioned for you to follow him.</p><p>Once the two of you were farther away from the bedrooms, you were able to talk in a hushed voice instead of a whisper.</p><p>"Thanks for reading to him." Charlie told you, arms folded across his chest, trying to be casual. In reality, he was buzzing with the conversation you had with him on the balcony and the conversation he heard you having with his son.</p><p>"Oh, sure, I didn't mind." You said to him honestly, "I had a feeling you needed some more time alone...I'm sure I was bothering you anyways." You chuckled. You preoccupied yourself by gathering up your belongings that you set down when you were originally playing with Henry in the living room.</p><p>Charlie's kept staring at you as you bent down to pick up your purse, at the new view of your thighs that he was getting as you did so. "You didn't bother me at all." He found himself saying in a more sincere way than he even meant to.</p><p>You were standing up again now and you felt awkward. You couldn't help but remember how you've had the same feelings at the end of first dates that you'd been on. That feeling of 'what now?' as you said goodbye. But this wasn't a date, it was far from it. You were leaving your married boss's house.</p><p>"Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow then?" You asked him, "At nine?" You added. You knew exactly when he told you to show up but you were just trying to be casual, trying to fill the silence.</p><p>"Nine." He agreed with you, nodding. He ran a hand over his chin, thinking. He didn't want you to leave yet, he realized. The minute you left, he'd be alone with his thoughts. And he'd have to get in bed with Nicole and sleep on the opposite side with their backs turned towards each other. But there was nothing else he could say to you that would be appropriate.</p><p>"Okay..." You felt the same way, not wanting to be alone in your apartment. "Have a good night, Charlie." You told him, giving him a shy smile before turning and heading towards the door. You were proud of yourself for not letting 'Mr.Barber' slip.</p><p>Charlie watched you leave, a thought suddenly popping into his head, "Wait." He told you.</p><p>You paused at his door, looking at him over your shoulder.</p><p>Charlie held up a finger, wordlessly telling you to 'stop', before he turned and went towards the kitchen. He returned quickly, this time with a tupperware container in his hands. "It's pasta, with some vegetables. I think you'll like it." He explained, handing it to you.</p><p>You remembered how earlier today when Charlie gave you one of his sandwiches for lunch, that he promised he'd give you his leftovers from dinner, so that you had something to bring the next day. You took the container from him, beaming that he remembered.</p><p>"Oh, thank you so much. You didn't have to do this." You said to him, unsure how to show how grateful you were for the gesture. The thought of him saving food just for you was almost too much to handle.</p><p>Charlie ignored the last comment. You were right, he didn't have to do this but he wanted to. He couldn't explain why. "Don't worry about it. I'd rather you have it than me just throwing it away in a few days."</p><p>Suddenly there was that awkward tension in the air again.</p><p>"Well, I really appreciate it." You told him, turning towards the door again.</p><p>Charlie gently touched your shoulder to stop you from walking out. His touch sent a shock of electricity through both of your bodies. "Let me give you my number, it's late, I want to make sure you get home safe."</p><p>You thought you might faint at how sweet he was being with you, you weren't expecting it at all. He was just your boss, he didn't need to care about you like this. But at the same time, it was definitely reassuring. You were still getting used to the city and taking the subway at night was going to be an entirely new experience for you.</p><p>You pulled your phone out from your purse and saved a contact with his number attached to it. You had the theater company's number, obviously, but you never had a reason to have his personal cell phone number until now. It felt weird to see the name 'Charlie Barber' on your screen.</p><p>"I'll send you a text when I get home." You said, slipping it back into your purse and opening his front door.</p><p>"Good girl." Charlie automatically responded.</p><p>Your hand was frozen on the door knob, unable to move after hearing him say that, your back turned towards him. You felt arousal smack you right in the face and you tried not to let him know, discreetly pressing your thighs together at the sound of those words coming from him.</p><p>Behind you, Charlie was just as shocked as you were. He hadn't even meant to say it out loud. Technically, it could be innocent. But from the tone of his voice, it was clear that it wasn't.</p><p>Yeah, it definitely wasn't innocent.</p><p>"Goodnight, Mr.Barber." You said quickly, shutting the door behind you, using his full name to make things more professional in your mind. If only you knew how much that would turn him on.</p><p>Charlie watched the door shut, his pulse thumping in his ears.</p><p>What did he get himself into?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Dirty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>What kind of soap do you use in the shower, what does it smell like? This was something Charlie was wondering as he rubbed his own soap over his chest, wet hair causing water to run down his face. He couldn't stop thinking about you, no matter what he was doing, especially when he was alone.</p><p>As he wondered what scent of body wash you currently had in your shower, his thoughts drifted off to what you <em>looked</em> like in the shower. Charlie made a small noise at the mental imagine that popped into his brain: you rubbing soap on your naked body.</p><p>As his hand lowered from his chest towards his stomach, Charlie imagined himself walking into your apartment, guessing what it might look like, and making his way to your bathroom to find you in the shower...</p><p>
  <em>"Mr. Barber?" You'd ask, peaking your head out from the shower curtain. Wet hair and adorable.</em>
</p><p>Charlie smirked slightly at that, fingers ghosting over his growing erection, sighing.</p><p>
  <em>You'd open the curtain all the way, showing him how gorgeous you looked, naked and dripping. "Why don't you join me, daddy?" You'd say in your little voice, batting your eyelashes at him.</em>
</p><p>How could Charlie say no to that? His hand wrapped around his cock, picturing the way that he'd get in the shower with you.</p><p>
  <em>You'd put some of your soap in his hands and bite your lip, "Could you help me get clean? I'm so dirty." You'd whine and Charlie wouldn't be able to stop himself from taking the soap in his hands and rubbing it over your breasts.</em>
</p><p>Charlie groaned under his breath, the speed of his motions increasing at the thought of it. His daydream was playing out like cliché porn but it didn't matter, the thought of it was hot to him and he couldn't help himself. He couldn't stop thinking about you.</p><p>
  <em>You'd let out the cutest moans while his hands rubbed soap all over your breasts, capable fingers running over your nipples and pinching you. "Please, Charlie, I want you to fuck me." You'd say, biting your bottom lip and looking up at him with your wide eyes.</em>
</p><p>"Oh god." Charlie groaned to himself, trying to stay quiet as he pumped his hand up and down his shaft, spitting on it to add more lubrication. His other hand pressed against the wall in front of him, balancing himself while he kept his eyes shut, picturing the scene.</p><p>
  <em>You'd bend over so that your hands were against the tile of your shower, giving Charlie easier access to enter you from behind. You'd let out the sexiest moan, looking into Charlie's eyes over your shoulder as he began fucking you.</em>
</p><p>Charlie was close already, cursing under his breath as he touched himself, thrusting into his hand roughly. He didn't get the chance to do this often, he hardly ever had a moment alone where he wasn't working. It didn't help that it had been over a year since he actually had sex with someone...He was so pent up and having you parade around his life in your little skirts didn't help at all.</p><p>
  <em>You'd be moaning so loud at the way that he was all the way inside of you. "Oh god, Mr. Barber, your cock is so big. I don't know if I can take it." You would whimper, staring at him with a pout on your lips while he moved you up and down on his erection by your hips.</em>
</p><p>Even in his fantasy, you were so tight and warm, clenching around him in the perfect way, like you were made for him.</p><p>"Fuck. Oh my god." Charlie groaned, gritting his teeth to keep his volume low as he felt his orgasm hit him. He continued to pump his hand up and down his cock, riding out the feeling for as long as he could, twitching and throbbing.</p><p>He didn't even realize that he had been whispering your name the entire time he came, imagining you in his mind throughout the entire thing.</p><p>"Are you almost done in there?" He heard Nicole yell out through the other side of the bathroom door, "I need to grab a few things." She added, trying to get ready for the day just like Charlie was.</p><p>Charlie let out a shaky breath, "Almost done! Sorry." He called out, cleaning his hand off that he had just finished in. He tried to ground himself back into reality, remembering where he actually was. He wasn't in your apartment or your shower. He was in <em>his</em> apartment and <em>his</em> shower and his wife was on the other side of the door. And you were his intern and his son's babysitter.</p><p>A wave of guilt hit him for what he had just done.</p><p>Charlie felt like a dirty old man. <br/><br/></p><p> </p><p>You would be lying if you said that you hadn't had a few fantasies about Charlie since you left his apartment the night before. Hearing him call you a 'good girl' had made your head spin. The entire time you took the subway home, your brain was filled with him, thinking about how it would sound if he said that to to you while he was fucking you.</p><p>Just like you promised, you had sent him a text that simply said 'I'm home.' when you arrived at your apartment. Charlie had sent you a thumbs up emoji in response and for some reason that made you roll your eyes. How could he be so casual after dropping that bomb on you as you walked out of the door?</p><p>And now you were feeling that same frustration as you arrived at work and it seemed like he barely noticed you were there.</p><p>In all fairness, Charlie had been busy when you first walked in. He was on the phone, flipping through pages of something, talking quickly and with importance.</p><p>You said "hi" to him softly, not wanting to interrupt anything as you made your way into his office. He was the only one in there currently.</p><p>He offered you a quick wave in response. His wedding ring glinting in the light was not lost on you as he did so, making your stomach twist. You thought back to what he had said to you on his balcony, about how he wasn't happy with Nicole. You hadn't stopped thinking about that either.</p><p>It seemed like Charlie wasn't paying you any attention but that was far from the truth. He felt like the temperature of his office had just gone up a few notches, staring out of the corner of his eye at the way that you were settling into the chair across from his desk. You were wearing one of your fucking skirts, of course, it was like you knew exactly what drove him crazy.</p><p>His mind kept going back to the fantasy he had about you a few hours before, in the shower... Charlie had to tear his eyes away from your thighs, remembering the way that they looked covered in soap in his mind earlier...</p><p>You were slightly uncomfortable as you crossed a leg over the other, eyes glancing at your phone as you silenced it for the day, putting it away in your purse.</p><p>"Sure thing. Thanks for the help...Yep, you too. Goodbye." You were able to hear Charlie say to whoever he was talking to before he hung up his own phone in his hand, scribbling something on the papers in front of him as he did so. "Good morning." He said to you without looking up.</p><p>"Hi. Good morning." You told him, eager that he was acknowledging you.</p><p>There were a few beats of silence as he continued quickly writing something down, before he forgot the information he'd just been given on the phone.</p><p>"I'm sorry, I didn't have time to get coffee for you this morning." You told him with an apologetic frown.</p><p>This made Charlie's sprawling motion stop, glancing up at you with raised eyebrows. He stared at you, gears turning in his mind. You were so different from everyone around him. "You know you don't need to bring me coffee, right? That's not part of your job here."</p><p>You shrugged, skin heating up. "I know, I just did it yesterday so I wasn't sure if you were expecting it..." You trailed off, growing slightly embarrassed.</p><p>Charlie swallowed hard. God, you were so cute. "No, I wasn't. But thank you." He said to you, eyes lingering for a little too long before he turned his attention back to the paper. He jotted just a few things down before setting the pen down. "I'm almost done here, we'll head downstairs in a second."</p><p>"Sure." You shrugged, glancing around the office. He shared it with a few other people who had spaces rented in the building but you had yet to see anyone else. You assumed Charlie probably used it the most anyways, he always seemed to be working on something.</p><p>After a few minutes, Charlie stood up from behind his messy desk, straightening his shirt as he did so. He walked around and paused at the chair you were sitting in, taking a moment just to look at you.</p><p>You shifted in your seat, blinking as you looked up at him, at the way his hands went to hips.</p><p>"Ready?" He asked you simply, as if there wasn't a suffocating amount of tension between the two of you. As if he didn't spend his time in the shower that morning touching himself to the thought of you.</p><p>You stood up, though you still felt so much smaller than him. "Yeah." You agreed.</p><p>You were more ready for Charlie than he realized. <br/><br/><br/></p><p>For the majority of the day, you hadn't done anything too difficult. You just sat next to Charlie during rehearsal and followed along with the script, ready to give out the next line if the actor needed it. Every now and then Charlie would tell you to underline something or circle something but didn't explain why, he'd tell you later, he told you.</p><p>The hardest part (pun unintended), was just being so <em>close</em> to each other.</p><p>During lunch, you were almost too shy to pull out the food that Charlie gave you the night before, his leftovers from dinner. You felt like somehow everyone around you would know that he was the one who gave them to you and they would somehow know all the dirty thoughts that you were having about him as well.</p><p>But, nevertheless, you were currently sitting on the ground of the rehearsal space, finishing the container of pasta that he had given you while scrolling through your phone. Most of the others had gone out to lunch again but you stayed behind.</p><p>"How was it?" The voice in front of you made you sit up straighter in surprise, looking up to see Charlie staring down at you with a gentle smile. You wondered how you always found yourself in this position, on the ground and staring up at him.</p><p>After a moment, you realized he was talking about the food he'd given you and you smiled in response. "Oh, it was great. Thank you again for that." You told him. You were surprised when he began moving so that he was able to sit next to you, sliding down the wall so that he was beside you.</p><p>"You're welcome. I can't take credit for it, honestly. I didn't make it." He said, shrugging.</p><p>The realization hit you that you were eating food that his wife made and you felt like an asshole for having the terrible thoughts that you were having about her husband. You had a little bit left of it but you closed the lid, suddenly losing your appetite.</p><p>Charlie was oblivious to your inner turmoil but what he was fully aware of was the closeness that you two were experiencing once again. If he moved just a little your legs would be touching, he noticed.</p><p>"I was gonna go over the notes I had you make, if you're okay with it." He explained, motioning towards the script that was laying on the ground next to you. "So you know what I'm having you mark for in the future."</p><p>"Oh, sure." You said, trying to get your mind back to the job in front of you instead of thinking about your attraction to the married man next to you, your <em>boss</em>.</p><p>You handed him the script and let him explain the various things he had you circle or cross out or other things similar to that. You found yourself hanging on his every word. He wasn't saying anything particularly insightful but just the concentrated way he spoke and the way his fingers looked running over lines on the page in front of you, the way his dark eyes danced over the words ...</p><p>You were staring at his face instead of the script when he glanced over, catching you. He was surprised, faltering in whatever he was saying, not expecting to see your eyes on his.</p><p>"Um-and..." Charlie was stumbling over his words, trailing off because he lost his train of thought now that the two of you were looking at each other, so close to each other.</p><p>You blinked quickly, looking away, feeling too overwhelmed with the way that the two of you were staring at each other.</p><p>Before he could continue, one of the actors paused as they walked past you both. "Charlie, you're coming tonight, right?" He asked then gave you an apologetic smile, "You too." He added, not wanting to leave you out.</p><p>"Hm, yeah... We'll be there." Charlie assured the actor, then glanced at you with a small smile.</p><p>"Where to?" You asked curiously, glad that the tension between you and Charlie had a moment of rest, grateful for this interruption.</p><p>As the actor walked away, Charlie shut the script in his hands, knowing that it was time to get back to rehearsal. "Every Thursday we go to this bar nearby for a few drinks. I think you should come, get to know everyone."</p><p>You glanced over at the rest of the people in the room, trying to imagine how it would be to have some drinks with them. They were already loud, you couldn't imagine what they were like after a few.</p><p>Charlie was able to sense the type of thoughts running through your head, your apprehension and he nudged your shoulder with his. "Just hang around for a few minutes, they're excited to talk to you." He assured you.</p><p>You glanced at him, realizing that you had the urge to do as he told you. "Okay, fine." You agreed. Butterflies formed in your stomach at the thought of being with Charlie outside of work, it seemed <em>wrong</em> somehow. You knew that it was innocent, the entire theater company was going out together. But the rest of the company didn't have this tension with each other, it was different for the two of you.</p><p>You carefully stood up from the ground, gathering your trash and your marked up script as you did so.</p><p>Charlie held a hand out to you and you froze, knowing what he wanted. It just wasn't easy for you to touch him so casually. "Help me out, will you?" He asked, looking up at you sheepishly. Did he <em>really</em> need help up? Not really. But he couldn't help himself.</p><p>You bit your lip, embarrassed at how flustered a simple act like this could make you. You slowly put your hand into his large one and laughed a little at the way he stood back up, barely using your hand or your strength to do so.</p><p>"Thanks." Charlie said to you, a hint of a smirk in his eyes as he made his way towards the front of the room. "Okay, everyone, we're going to start back up from where we left off." He addressed the rest of the room, making everyone go quiet to listen to him.</p><p>You swallowed hard, watching him command everyone's attention. God damn him. <br/><br/></p><p>There had been a few awkward moments getting <em>to</em> the bar. You still couldn't remember everyone's name so making conversation on the walk over there when everyone was still sober and in the last bits of daylight remaining, had been difficult. But now that you were a drink in and you were inside, everything seemed a lot more natural.</p><p>The bar was small and dark but comfortable. There wasn't traditional seating, more so just various couches and chairs throughout the room, giving it a relaxed atmosphere. It was what you'd describe as hipster and maybe even a little artsy, and it was nothing like the bars you went to in your hometown. You liked it.</p><p>You were currently talking with a few of the actresses, answering the questions that they were asking to get to know you. Charlie was leaning against the bar, talking to Frank, laughing about something.</p><p>"I was shocked when I got the internship, I don't know, I just didn't think I had a shot." You explained to them, grateful that they were genuinely interested in listening to you. Charlie had been right, everyone was excited to talk to you.</p><p>"Shots? I heard the word shots." You heard someone say from your side and you looked over to see Kyle taking the spot next to you on the couch you were on. He had a tray of, as he said, shots in his hand and he set them on the table.</p><p>"Not that kind." You said quickly, staring at the clear liquid in the small glasses in front of you. You didn't drink often and when you did, it was just a few glasses of wine to unwind or a few drinks to celebrate something. Not shots on Thursday just <em>because</em>.</p><p>"Oh come on." The actress across from you grinned, "It's your first week, you have to do one with us." She encouraged you, making you feel guilty for not wanting to.</p><p>You hesitated but grabbed one, not wanting to look like you weren't any fun. You wanted friends, as sad as that sounded.</p><p>Everyone held theirs up in cheers before slamming them back, quickly drinking the liquor.</p><p>You shuddered at the taste then laughed when you saw that everyone's disgusted reactions had been similar to yours. As much as you hadn't really wanted to do it, it did make you feel more comfortable around them, like you had known them for longer than you actually had.</p><p>"Oh shit," Kyle mumbled, nudging you. "Two left. Looks like it's us, huh?" He suggested, motioning towards the two shots that were left behind on the tray.</p><p>You shook your head, "No thanks." You said in a rush, the burning of the first shot already hitting you. "I shouldn't."</p><p>But Kyle was already picking the shot up and handing it to you, a boyish grin on his face. "Please?" He asked, his eyebrows knitting up in an almost innocent way, using his handsomeness to his advantage.</p><p>You didn't want to drink it and you weren't really being swayed by his good looks, he wasn't your type. But at the same time, you wanted your new coworkers to like you so when the women across from you gave you encouragement as well, you sighed and held the shot glass up to Kyle.</p><p>"Thatta girl." He grinned, clinking his shot glass with yours before the two of you tipped it back, swallowing it.</p><p>You hissed under your breath, shaking your head at the way that it tasted. You definitely couldn't do another one of those. You grabbed for your mixed drink and took a long sip of it, trying to wash the taste out of your mouth.</p><p>Around an hour later, as you left the bathroom, you realized how drunk you actually were. Your reflection had been blurry and when you went to dry your hands, you felt yourself stumble forward, having to brace yourself by touching the wall.</p><p>The two shots had been a bad idea but the amount of mixed drinks that you lost track of, was what really hit you. It felt like everytime your glass was even halfway empty, Kyle was right there next to you, ordering you a new one. You weren't sure if he was even doing it on purpose, he clearly could just handle his liquor better than you could.</p><p>Shutting the bathroom door behind you, you jumped slightly when you saw that Charlie had been leaving the men's bathroom at the same time. "Oh. Hi." You grinned, pausing, feeling your skin heat up more than it already was from the alcohol, just at the sight of him. You hadn't spoken to him since you arrived at the bar and now having him close to you made your heart beat quickly.</p><p>Charlie's grin matched yours as he looked down at you. "Hey." He said to you, amused. He could already tell that you were tipsy just from the smile on your face and something about it was endearing to him. "Having a good time?" He asked you, talking over the music playing.</p><p>You thought about it. Were you having a good time? You realized then that you actually were. It had been so long since you let go and let yourself drink and laugh with people. "I am." You told him, surprised at your own admission.</p><p>Charlie's eyebrows raised at your earnest response. "I had a feeling you would once you got to know everyone." He said to you, saying a quick 'excuse me' to a man who pushed past him to get in the bathroom door behind him.</p><p>You shifted on your feet at Charlie's movement and it caused you to stumble slightly, steadying yourself by grabbing onto the doorframe behind you.</p><p>Charlie's amused smile turned into a look of concern, instinctively holding a hand out to help you to keep your balance if you needed it. "You're drunk." He commented with a frown, "Are you okay with that?" He asked you. He didn't want to be overbearing but he felt himself becoming protective over you.</p><p>You frowned, matching his expression. "I didn't mean to get drunk." You told him, feeling guilty for drinking too much, for whatever reason. "But I mean, it's okay that I am...<em>right</em>?" You asked with a shrug, pulling at the bottom of your skirt to make sure you looked acceptable still.</p><p>"Yeah, it's okay." Charlie agreed with you, his voice soothing. He saw the worried look on your face and he gently put a hand on your shoulder. "Let's get some air." He told you, head motioning towards the exit door that was across the room.</p><p>You nodded at that, realizing how much you needed it. It was suddenly really warm and loud inside the bar.</p><p>The two of you made your way out of the back of the building and it was more crowded now than it had been a moment ago. You tried leading the way through the crowd but you were smaller than Charlie and not as assertive. You shivered at the way his hand was lightly on your back as he guided you through the groups of people, pointing you in the direction of the door.</p><p>When the fresh air hit you, you took a deep breath gratefully. You wouldn't describe New York City's air as exactly...<em>pleasant</em>, but it was so much less suffocating out here than it had been in there.</p><p>You rested your back against the brick wall of the building and Charlie moved beside you, looking you over to make sure you were still doing alright. "I'm sorry." You said, looking over at him.</p><p>"For what?" Charlie asked. If you didn't have such a serious expression on his face he might even laugh at your statement.</p><p>"I don't know." You admitted, "For making you feel like you need to come out here with me...I shouldn't have drank this much, I never do." You said, biting your lip. You had meant to make a good first impression and now you were outside, your boss having to take care of you.</p><p>Charle sighed, realizing what you meant now. You were embarrassed. "Don't be sorry. You had a little too much to drink, sweetheart, it happens to the best of us." He assured you sincerely.</p><p>Hearing him call you 'sweetheart' made you instantly giggle, you already felt lightheaded from the alcohol and that didn't help matters.</p><p>Charlie noticed the sudden change in your mood and he narrowed his eyes, pretending to be suspicious. "What's so funny?" He asked you, hands back in his pockets. You were so fucking cute when you laughed, he couldn't stop staring at you.</p><p>"Nothing." You told him, shaking your head, your laughter starting to die off as you locked eyes with him. He could call you sweetheart all day but it didn't change the fact that he was your married boss. You felt ashamed of yourself again, not just for having a few too many drinks, but for standing alone with him when you knew you shouldn't be, for thinking what you shouldn't be.</p><p>"I think I want to go home." You announced to him. Your head was spinning for multiple reasons and the idea of getting into your pajamas and crawling into bed was all you wanted to do right now. Well, not <em>all</em> you wanted to do, you reminded yourself as you looked at Charlie...But it was the only thing you were <em>able</em> to do right now.</p><p>"Sure." Charlie agreed with you, "Do you know how to get home?" He asked you, remembering that you had just moved there not too long ago.</p><p>Did you remember? You glanced down the street, trying to remember where it was in relation to the theater. "Um, yeah, I think." You said to him, clearly not confident.</p><p>Charlie sighed, "Don't worry about it, I'll order you an Uber." He said, pulling his phone out from his pocket. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he just sent you away to wander the streets at night.</p><p>You suddenly felt so out of place. Alone and drunk in a new city. You inhaled shakily, folding your arms around your body and trying to tell yourself that it was no big deal. But the alcohol rushing through your body was making you emotional, making you feel more anxious than you would've felt if you were sober.</p><p>As he was unlocking his phone and looking for the app, Charlie glanced over at you and saw the way that you were trying to compose yourself. He felt his heart sink. He had been the one to suggest that you go out with everyone, a part of him felt responsible that you got this way. "Do you..." He trailed off, knowing this wasn't a good idea.</p><p>You looked over at him quickly with wide eyes, slightly glistening.</p><p>Charlie's sinking heart was thumping now, seeing how you were eager to see what he had to suggest. "Do you want me to ride there with you? To make sure you get there okay?" He asked you, almost hesitantly.</p><p>It took a few minutes to fully process in your mind but when you realized what he was asking, you nodded, "Could you?" You asked, not even meaning to sound half as desperate as you had.</p><p>Charlie thought it over, giving himself the opportunity to change his mind. He glanced down the street, noticing the way that a group of guys catcalled a group of women walking past them and he realized he wasn't comfortable with you on your own, even if it was in an Uber. "Yeah, it's no problem." He assured you.</p><p>He then asked for your address, he knew exactly how to get there, he was familiar with the city enough. "Got it." He told you, after typing in what he needed to and ordering a car to come pick the two of you up.</p><p>"You're so nice to me." You said to Charlie softly, leaning your head against the wall behind you. It wasn't fair, it was as if he were making you attracted to him on purpose.</p><p>Charlie chuckled at that, "Not really." He replied, suddenly embarrassed by how caring he was when it came to you. It was something he tried not to think about.</p><p>"You are." You argued with him, "You didn't have to give me either of my jobs, or give me food, or ride home with me tonight...Why do you do it?"</p><p>It was something that he was asking himself, 'why did he do this with you?'. He tried to think of an answer that didn't involve how beautiful he thought that you were. It dawned on him then, that when you were around it was the first time that he felt like he was appreciated in years. It was something he craved.</p><p>He did a lot for Henry and in certain aspects, for Nicole as well. But he didn't always do it in the correct way and because of that, it often was overlooked by everyone around him. Charlie worked so hard and he always meant well but because of selfish choices he'd made in the past, his good deeds never seemed to be good enough. He always felt like the bad guy.</p><p>When it came to you, Charlie saw the way that you lit up when he gave you attention or when he offered to help you with something. It made him feel valued and it made everything feel new again, refreshing.</p><p>"I don't know why." Charlie lied, knowing that you were drunk anyways so it didn't matter if he wasn't exactly articulate. "Do you want me to stop?" He asked you, smirking a little now.</p><p>You laughed, taking in the way that he was looking at you. God, he was hot and that definitely wasn't just the booze talking. "Don't stop." You replied to him, "I like it when you're nice to me."</p><p>Charlie tensed up at your words. There was nothing inherently sexual about them, in fact, what you just said was almost <em>pure</em>. But something about the way you said it made heat rise inside of him. He tried to imagine what it would be like if he were single, if you weren't his intern...If he was someone else and he was alone with you out here, things would be a lot different...</p><p>His wandering mind came to a halt when a car matching the description of the one he had just ordered pulled up to the curb.</p><p>"That's us." Charlie informed you, glad for the distraction. He opened the back door for you, helping you get inside. He went to shut the door and sit up in the front so that you had your own space but as he went to do so, you looked at him with your wide eyes, a hint of longing in them and he couldn't help himself from crouching into the back seat with you.</p><p>Once you two were settled in the back of the car and the driver began moving it towards your destination, you glanced over at Charlie and huffed out a little laugh. He was far too big to be in the back seat with you. His legs were bent in an uncomfortable way and he clearly didn't know where to put his hands, adjusting them on his legs and on the seat next to him, trying to get comfortable.</p><p>"Stop it. Don't laugh at me." Charlie said but he was holding back laughter himself, struggling with the seatbelt that kept getting stuck every time he tried to yank on it, making it just lock up instead.</p><p>"Shit." He muttered and at your growing amusement next to him, he shot you a look, "It's not funny." He added but despite himself he started laughing as well, finally able to pull it in a gentle way, clicking it in place.</p><p>Charlie sighed in relief, relaxing against the seat as much as he could, settling with keeping his hands interlocked with each other in his lap. He slowly looked over at you, a hint of a grin on his face at the way you were holding back laughter.</p><p>You looked away quickly, trying to hide it, embarrassed for whatever reason from the moment you two just shared with each other.</p><p>The two of you didn't say anything to each other for the rest of the ride. It was a short trip, no traffic.</p><p>The entire time you were very much aware of the way that you two were alone in the back of a dark car, not too far apart from each other. You gazed out of the window, at all the lights and people that you passed, drunk enough to still be completely enamored by your surroundings.</p><p>Charlie was finding it difficult to take his eyes off of you. The way that the lights of the city reflected on your hair and the look of awe on your face as you took everything in. You were young and gorgeous and intelligent and funny and sweet and he found himself growing incredibly jealous at whichever man was going to eventually make you his.</p><p>He was jealous of the fact that whoever you were going to meet and end up with at some point, had a chance at a happy relationship. The idea of it seemed so far away from him. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so <em>light</em> with Nicole, everything was always serious. When was the last time Charlie sat with his wife and laughed? He couldn't recall a specific memory in the last several months, maybe even more.</p><p>The car pulled up to the curb outside of your apartment and you looked over at Charlie. You planned to thank him for the ride and that you'd see him at work in the morning but when you looked over at him, you saw the intense way he was staring at you, lit up by the dim streetlight.</p><p>You felt bolder than usual, the alcohol giving you confidence. "Do you want to come inside?" You asked him, hand hovering on the door handle. Your heart was thumping in your ears as the words left your mouth. You weren't even sure why you said them? Why would your boss want to come inside your tiny apartment?</p><p>Charlie audibly exhaled at your question, feeling like he was dreaming. "I shouldn't." He said, trying to convince himself, the hesitance clear in his voice. God, he wanted to. He pretended to check his watch, "I should get home." He added, trying to make an excuse as to why it would be dangerous to follow you inside.</p><p>"Right." You said, chuckling nervously. "Okay, I just wanted to offer you a drink or maybe something to eat to say thank you for making sure I was safe." You said, feeling stupid as you opened the door to leave.</p><p>Charlie's stomach was turning as he thought this over. He wasn't sure if he'd ever get this opportunity again, to be so casually alone with you. In what circumstance besides this one would you be asking him to come home with you?</p><p>As you exited the car and bent down so you could thank Charlie and say goodbye, you were confused to see him no longer sitting in the backseat.</p><p>"You can't offer me something to eat and expect me not to take it." You heard him say from behind you. You turned around to see him standing on the sidewalk in front of your apartment, hands in his pockets.</p><p>You grinned, shutting the door and making your way over to him. Charlie Barber was going to be inside your apartment with you...You were drunk enough to not question if this was reality or not. If you were sober, you would assume this was too good to be true. Well also, if you were sober you would've never been brave enough to ask him to come inside to begin with.</p><p>Charlie tried his hardest not to check you out as you walked closer to him. This was such a bad idea, alarms were going off in his mind. Everything had been innocent and technically, this still was. He was just making sure you got inside alright. If you were any of his other workers, he'd do the same. But he couldn't play dumb in his own thoughts, he knew this was much more than that.</p><p>"Follow me." You said in a sing-song voice, walking past him and towards the door of your apartment building, tipsy and giddy.</p><p>Charlie didn't need to be told, he was right behind you, ignoring every bit of self restraint that he had to do so.</p><p>You led him up the stairs, to the second floor where you lived. "Don't be surprised by how shitty it is." You told him, hand on the railing because you weren't sure if you'd be able to walk so quickly if you didn't. "I mean, I tried to make it nice but there's only so much I can do." You rambled as the two of you got to your door.</p><p>You dug into your purse, trying to find your keys but you weren't very coordinated right now. You sighed, trying to find them and after a few long moments you finally did. You sent Charlie a sheepish look, apologetic. He had already been staring at you, a look in his eyes that you couldn't place.</p><p>"Sorry." You muttered, giggling a little as you fumbled trying to put the key into the door.</p><p>"You're okay." Charlie assured you, his voice was deep and soft at the same time, reassuring you. </p><p>You glanced over at him and saw the way he was staring at you, his mouth serious but his eyes were smiling. You could've dropped your keys right then and there.</p><p>Somehow you managed to unlock and open the door. You quickly scanned the apartment, praying that there was no huge mess in it. You noticed some dirty clothes by your bed and a few mugs in the sink but nothing other than that, for once.</p><p>"Like I said, it's shitty." You said, turning a few lamps on, disliking the way that the bright overhead lights looked.</p><p>"It's not shitty." He told you and he meant it. It was a small studio apartment and it wasn't the nicest building. But as Charlie looked around he noticed how much you work you put into making it look nice. You had little decorations all over, posters up of your favorite bands, framed photos of you and friends, maybe family. It was cozy and somehow very <em>you</em>. He found himself smiling to himself at the realization...Why was he smiling? He remembered where he was and who he was with and he felt guilty.</p><p>Charlie sighed, running a hand through his hair. Maybe this was a mistake, after all. "You're all good, then?" He asked you, looking away from you so that he didn't get carried away, being alone with you in a place that was so intimate.</p><p>You weren't listening to him, digging through your dresser to find a pair of pajamas, suddenly very uncomfortable in your work clothes. "I'm fine." You said over your shoulder, oblivious to the turmoil in his head. "Give me a second, okay?" You told him and before he could give you an answer, you were going into your bathroom.</p><p>Charlie opened his mouth to stop you so he could tell you goodbye but you were shutting the door behind you before he could. He shut his mouth with a frown, his hand running over his face in nervousness.</p><p>While you changed into your pajamas in the bathroom, Charlie paced around your apartment, looking over various items, trying to occupy his mind. He paused at your bookshelf, looking at the various titles, most of which he recognized. You two had the same taste in books, it seemed, actually.</p><p>He noticed a framed photo. You and someone who almost sort of looked like you, a little older and more reserved, she wasn't making the funny face that you were. She was probably the older sister you mentioned, he guessed. He couldn't help but let a small smile form on his lips, looking the photo over.</p><p>He picked the frame up, wanting to get a closer look at it. When Charlie held it at a certain angle, his eyebrows raised up at the way the photo of you and your sister lifted slightly, exposing part of a picture underneath. He couldn't help himself, wanting to see more. He moved the photo and as he suspected, you had used the picture with your sister to cover this one up.</p><p>Charlie frowned at what he saw. It was you, of course. But you were with a man close to Charlie's age, sitting on his lap and kissing his cheek. He wasn't sure why the image upset him but it did...</p><p>You opened your bathroom door, humming under your breath, oblivious.</p><p>Charlie quickly put the picture back in its place, pretending to just read over the book titles on the shelf, not wanting you to know that he was being nosey. He glanced over at you and had to do a double take. He understood that you had went into the bathroom to get into more comfortable clothes but he hadn't been expecting those clothes to be a tiny tank top and a pair of shorts.</p><p>"I should get going." He said instantly, very much reminded of how much he was attracted to you.</p><p>"Really?" You asked with a pout. You didn't want him to leave.</p><p>"Yeah," Charlie sighed, lying, "I was supposed to get home around this time, I don't want anyone to be worried." He said, not wanting to say Nicole's name out loud and shatter the illusion that you two were just random strangers, not in the situation that you both currently were.</p><p>Even though he'd been purposeful to not say her name, Nicole's face popped into your head and you remembered how wrong this was. You realized you'd probably never get this chance again to be alone with him in your apartment. This was probably the first and last time Charlie would ever be standing in your bedroom the way that he was and the thought made you sad.</p><p>"Can you help me make food first? I'm hungry and I don't trust myself to do it alone." You said, unable to stop the tipsy grin that made its way onto your face, fingers playing with the hem of your pajama shorts.</p><p>Charlie couldn't help himself from looking you over, it was more skin that he'd ever seen you show before. You were so fucking adorable. "Okay, fine." He agreed with a hint of a smirk, he barely knew you and he was already so weak for you. "What do you want?" He asked you, moving towards your kitchen.</p><p>You were right behind him, practically skipping. "Well, there's not much to pick from." You admitted. You opened a cabinet...bread and peanut butter. Peanut butter toast, good enough.</p><p>Then, not thinking about who was behind you watching you, you attempted to climb up on the counter to reach your toaster on the top of the cabinet.</p><p>"Woah, woah, woah." Charlie laughed, coming up behind you quickly with his hands out in case you fell. "You're drunker than I thought, go sit down and let me do it." He said, his tone stern but amused.</p><p>You looked at him over your shoulder, biting your lip as you laughed and hopping off of the counter, stumbling slightly on your feet as you did so. After getting a glass of water for both of you, you moved to your small kitchen table, taking a seat at it and watching him.</p><p>Charlie was instantly in the zone, having done this many times before in his own home, grabbing the toaster and the food. It was a good distraction from the racing filthy thoughts he was having about you.</p><p>You watched Charlie take charge in your apartment, opening drawers and cabinets to</p><p>find your plates and silverware. Even though you could only see him from the back, you were infatuated with the way he did everything so naturally yet so carefully.</p><p>Soon, he was moving towards you at the table, setting a plate down in front of you.</p><p>"Thank you, you're a lifesaver." You said dramatically, pulling it closer to you.</p><p>Charlie smiled, watching you, "It was hard work." He said sarcastically, grabbing the water you poured for him and taking a drink of it, keeping his eyes on you as he did so. He checked his watch, it was starting to get late now, he should at least call and make sure Nicole knew he was alright.</p><p>You picked up a piece of the toast he had just made you, taking a small bite. When you went to set it back down on the plate, you fumbled with it, dropping it. "Fuck." You mumbled, trying to catch it before it landed on the table. The good news was: you caught it. The bad news was: it got all over your hands.</p><p>Charlie laughed out loud, watching the scene unfold in front of him. It wasn't that he <em>enjoyed</em> seeing you drunk but he had to admit that he found it cute to see you so uninhibited and less shy around him, letting yourself do things like change into pajamas and drop your food unabashedly.</p><p>"Dammit." You mumbled, setting the bread back on the plate. Your hand was covered in peanut butter. "Look at me." You said, starting to laugh as well as you held your hand up. You stood up, moving over to your sink while shaking your head, "I'm drunk." You announced, as if that were news.</p><p>"You are." Charlie agreed, extremely amused by all of this.</p><p>You went to turn the sink on but got peanut butter on the surface of the faucet, groaning in frustration. You struggled for a few more moments before looking at Charlie over your shoulder. "Could you help me get clean? I'm so dirty."</p><p>Charlie froze completely in place at your words. <em>"Could you help me get clean? I'm so dirty." </em>It was the same exact thing that he imagined you saying to him in his daydream that morning, when he was stroking his cock and thinking about you in the shower.</p><p>"What did you say?" Charlie asked, unable to process the fact that his fantasies were literally playing out in front of him, in a way. He felt himself growing hard at the memory, at the fact that you were saying something that had been so blatantly sexual in his mind not too long ago. He shifted, concealing it, trying to get into the right frame of mind again.</p><p>"Could you just turn the water on for me or something? I can't." You complained, getting irritated with the entire situation. Really, you could've just moved it with the back of your hand but you weren't in the right state of mind and also, you liked being helpless around him, noticing the way he jumped to take care of you.</p><p>"Oh, uh-sure." Charlie stammered, moving towards you. He went to lean over you but was struggling too, trying not to touch the peanut butter you left behind. He couldn't quite grab the clean faucet and to do so he had to stand directly behind you, leaning above you.</p><p>You exhaled sharply, feeling the way that his chest was against your back, both arms around you so that he could turn the water on, avoiding the dirty one.</p><p>You two were frozen at the contact, at how close the two of you were to each other.</p><p>Charlie found himself taking your hands into his, moving them under the stream of water, attempting to wash away the mess. You could barely breathe, this all felt so intimate and close.</p><p>Charlie was feeling the same way, his chest rising and falling so violently that he was sure you'd be able to feel it. He didn't know what the fuck he was doing, it was all so wrong. He was just acting on feeling, not on morals. This is what he <em>wanted</em> to do even if it was far from what he should be doing.</p><p>His large hands held both of yours, fingers running against your skin to clean off the food that you had on them, under the water. Your eyes were trained on his touch, the way that your hands looked so small in his.</p><p>The alcohol was swimming in your veins, making this seem more normal than it actually was, making you act on instinct. Your hips moved towards him, letting out a small sigh at the feeling of your ass brushing against him, feeling the material of his pants against your bare thighs.</p><p>Charlie's hands on yours gripped slightly tighter, tensing at the way you were absentmindedly rubbing against him. He said your name out loud in a soft sigh, his hips moving in time with yours.</p><p>"Charlie..." You sighed in response to him saying your name, eyes fluttering shut.</p><p>He let out a small noise at the way his name sounded on your lips, at the way you were almost moaning it. This was so dangerous. Still, a part of him was attempting to rationalize it in his brain. He was just cleaning your hands for you...that was all...nothing else.</p><p>"You're so good at taking care of me." You said in a small, breathy voice, thinking back to all the ways he'd done it before. Giving you leftovers, making sure Kyle wasn't making you nervous, letting you work for him, making sure you got home safe...Your heart was beating so fast. Not just because of the arousal you were feeling but just this overall desire for Charlie.</p><p>Charlie's head tilted back slightly at that, an exhale escaping his chest. He continued his motions on your hands, cleaning the food off of them. He did have this urge to take care of you, it was surprising to him, but it was there. His movements against you, the way he was brushing against your ass, were becoming more thoughtful, purposefully doing it in a way that was bringing him pleasure.</p><p>You couldn't help but arch your back towards him, letting his hips move against you harder.</p><p>Charlie shut the water off, grabbing for your washcloth as he began drying your hands off for you. His breath was heavy in your ear, making you shudder as goosebumps rose on your skin. When he set the cloth back down, you found yourself slowly turning around, facing him.</p><p>He didn't move from his close contact against you, instead he rested his hands on the counter behind you, on either side of you. You two were staring at each other intensely, pulse heightening at how risky this all was.</p><p>You both opened your mouths to speak, wanting to say something, <em>anything</em>, but there was nothing to say. This wasn't about thinking, it was about <em>feeling</em> and the way that you two felt was unavoidable.</p><p>Charlie couldn't help himself, slowly moving one of his hands up to your face, cupping your cheek. He felt the way his body was almost moving on it's own, bending down towards you, pressing you against the sink.</p><p>You let out a shaky noise, your eyes were completely focused on each other. God, you wanted him so bad. You felt so safe with him touching you.</p><p>He wanted to kiss you, he could do so easily right now. The voice in the back of his mind kept telling him to stop, this was all so wrong on so many levels but he couldn't. With the hand on your cheek, he slowly ran his thumb over to your lips, testing out the way it would feel to press his own against yours, wishing.</p><p>You swallowed hard at the intimate contact, the way that Charlie's thumb was running over your bottom lip, the burning way he was looking at you in your eyes as he did so. This wasn't enough, you wanted more of him. You gently parted your lips and watched how Charlie's eyebrows furrowed at the way you slowly took his thumb into your mouth.</p><p>"Fuck." He hissed, jaw clenching as he watched the tip of his thumb enter between your lips. Your tongue was warm and soft against his skin, running along his finger as you moaned softly at the contact. It was such a bold thing for you to do, something that he wasn't expecting from someone who acted so innocent. The thought of that made him ache, he wanted you so badly it hurt.</p><p>You cautiously wrapped your lips around his thumb, sucking on it, wide eyes blinking up at him.</p><p>Charlie felt like he couldn't breathe, his hand that was on the counter next to you went to your arm, as if to hold you in place, not wanting you to stop what you were doing. "Good girl." He found himself mumbling under his breath, more to himself than even to you.</p><p>You whined at those words, eyes fluttering, thinking about all the dreams you've had about him saying it to you and really meaning it in the way he meant it right now.</p><p>He slowly pulled his thumb from your mouth with a small noise, moving it right back to your cheek. Charlie was getting closer to you, bending down so that his mouth was hovering over yours.</p><p>Both of your eyes were open, staring directly at each other, overwhelmed by the gravity of all of this, how intense it all was.</p><p>His forehead was on yours, nose brushing against yours, lips so close to each other. If he shifted even a little his lips would be right against yours, kissing you.</p><p>Then, there was a long honk coming from a car outside, making both of you falter, blinking.</p><p>It suddenly dawned on the both of you. The break from reality reminded you of who you were and who he was and what the two of you were doing.</p><p>Charlie was suddenly pulling away from you, a hand on his mouth almost in shock as he turned his back to you. "I should go." He said, his voice was shaking, trying to compose himself.</p><p>"Charlie..." You said, not sure what else to say. You were scared. How did the two of you let it get that far? You felt sick, like everything was crashing around you, maybe it was just the alcohol or maybe it was the fact that you were convincing yourself that you were going to lose your jobs, he was going to tell Nicole, everything would be ruined.</p><p>He was already at the door, trying to get himself out of there before he turned around and did something he would regret. "Goodnight." Charlie said in a far off voice, stealing one last glance at you before he exited, the door slamming behind him.</p><p>You were still standing at the sink, staring at the door that was now shut. You slowly slid down to the ground, trying not to panic. You put your head in your hands, the moment the two of you shared playing over and over in your mind.</p><p>You felt like everything was over before it even started.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Brat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When you woke up the next morning, you felt like complete shit.</p><p>Sure, you were hungover. Pretty badly hungover, actually. But also, you were instantly reminded of the way you had literally sucked on your married boss's thumb in the middle of your kitchen.</p><p>You groaned and pulled your pillow over your head, running your hand along your nightstand to silence your phone's alarm that was blaring, letting you know that you needed to get up and start getting ready for work.</p><p>You were dreading work, not just because... well it was <em>work</em>. But because Charlie would be there. And you weren't sure if you would be able to face him today after what happened the night before.</p><p>You slowly sat up in bed and ran a hand over your face, trying to remember everything that happened. You had been pretty drunk but not drunk enough to forget about the way that Charlie had you pressed against your sink, staring down at you with lustful eyes.</p><p>He had been the one to make the first move, <em>really</em>, you tried to tell yourself. You might've rubbed against him a little too sexually to be considered an accident but he had been the one who put his hand on your cheek, his thumb over your lips.</p><p>Your body heated up at the realization. Charlie wanted you.</p><p>You started to piece it together now, all the small ways he'd make excuses to touch you or be alone with you, the way you'd catch him looking at you, the way he took care of you...</p><p>Slapping a hand to your forehead, you started laughing. You were so fucking naive, how could you not have noticed it before? As much as you had been pining over your boss, he was feeling the same way about you.</p><p>You repeated the idea over in your head: 'Charlie Barber wanted you'.</p><p>Although there was still a sinking feeling of shame in your stomach as you got out of bed, you couldn't help the small smile that was working its way onto your lips as you shuffled into your kitchen.</p><p>Grabbing your essential hangover supplies, you made your way into your bathroom, popping a pain reliever into your mouth as you got together your makeup for the day. You had been almost completely done getting ready when your phone lit up on the counter top in front of you.</p><p>Charlie's number.</p><p>You tried to ignore the nervousness that hit you when you unlocked your phone, clicking on the alert that he texted you:</p><p>
  <em>"Take the morning off. See you at 1 o'clock"</em>
</p><p>You frowned as you read it over and over again. Take the morning off? He hadn't mentioned that to you at all before.</p><p>"Fuck." You said out loud to yourself. Maybe he was taking the morning to interview other interns, wanting to see if he had other options before he fired you. Or maybe he just didn't want to see you so early in the morning after what happened the night before... Your mind was spinning, trying to come up with any explanation for why he decided this so last minute.</p><p>You made your way back onto your bed, trying to calm yourself down. You sent a text back to Charlie, a simple: "<em>Okay</em>".</p><p>Then you quickly dialed your sister's number, needing to talk to someone about this before you spiraled any more than you already were and starting really panicking.</p><p>"Hi." You heard Erin's voice on the other end.</p><p>"Hey, what are you doing?" You asked her, bringing your knees up to your chest.</p><p>"Yoga." She answered, "Are you okay?"</p><p>You rolled your eyes at that. Of course. You woke up hungover and hating yourself and Erin probably woke up with a smile on her face before floating over to her yoga mat. She always had her shit together. "I just need to talk about something out loud so I don't go crazy."</p><p>"Oh god," Erin sighed, you could just imagine the way that she sat up, pulling the phone closer to her ear, "What did you <em>do</em>?" She asked you, already disappointed.</p><p>"Don't do that." You warned her, already feeling more guilty after hearing her tone of voice. She was only five years older than you but she definitely acted like it was more, "Just...tell me you'd still love me if I lost my internship." You said to her, wincing as you got ready for the impact of her reaction.</p><p>"What?" Erin yelled, "You've had it for what? Two days? How did you get fired?"</p><p>"I haven't yet!" You argued, collapsing back on your bed with a sigh. "I might have made a little mistake last night." You said, biting your lip at the memories rushing through your head.</p><p>You continued to explain to your sister what happened, how you got too drunk and ended up getting too close to Charlie and now he didn't want you coming into work until the afternoon and why that worried you.</p><p>Erin said your name in a sigh, softening when she heard what happened. "You have to be careful with this stuff." She said to you, voice now sympathetic. "This sounds very familiar..." She trailed off, not sure how much she should say, not wanting to upset you.</p><p>You were silent, shutting your eyes, feeling ashamed. Your ex-boyfriend had been shitty and that was putting it kindly. You hated when she brought him up. "It's not the same. Charlie's nothing like <em>him</em>. It was my fault last night, I should've never gotten drunk and invited him inside."</p><p>"Well you're an adult and you knew it was wrong but it was his fault too. He should've never gone inside your apartment if he was attracted to you.You were drunk and he's your <em>boss</em>, this is on him, really." She told you, getting into protective older sister mode as she thought about the situation.</p><p>You opened your eyes, frowning, staring up at your ceiling. You knew how it must sound to Erin but you knew it wasn't like that. Charlie wasn't being forceful or creepy, you had wanted just as much as he did.</p><p>"I'm just saying," Erin started talking again, cautiously, "I want you to keep this internship because it means a lot to you but...if you <em>did</em> get fired...I don't think it would be the worst idea to stay away from him."</p><p>You didn't like the sound of that. You did want her reassurance that it would be okay if you lost the internship and most likely your babysitting job, but at the same time, you didn't want her to <em>hope</em> you lost them.</p><p>"Okay, thanks for listening." You told her, wanting to be done with this conversation right now, it was making you feel guilty all over again but for entirely different reasons. "I should get going." You lied, knowing you would have nothing to do but worry for the next several hours.</p><p>Erin said her goodbyes to you and reminded you to take care of yourself.</p><p>Yeah, <em>sure</em>.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>When you arrived at work, after lunch time, you were sick with nerves as you made your way up the stairwell to the rehearsal space, where you assumed everyone would be. You kept thinking over exactly what you would say in your head. You weren't sure if you were supposed to ignore what happened or apologize...Maybe he'd apologize first.</p><p>Your rambling thoughts were interrupted by someone walking down the stairs, passing you.</p><p>"Oh," You heard a voice say your name and when you looked over your shoulder at the person who had just stopped a few steps below you, you saw Nicole. "I was just about to call you, actually." She said to you.</p><p>"Call me?" You repeated, gripping the railing beside you. Oh fuck, you thought, Charlie probably told her what happened. You took a deep shaky breath, all of the blood rushing to your face as you quickly tried to think about how you could explain yourself.</p><p>Nicole nodded, seemingly oblivious to your shock. "I was wondering if you could watch Henry tomorrow night. I know we agreed on weekends anyways but I just wanted to make sure you were available."</p><p>You steadied yourself, exhaling now as you released the railing. She seemed normal, <em>happy</em> <em>even</em>, she must not know anything. "Tomorrow? Yeah, sure, no problem." You quickly responded, trying not to be suspicious about your previous reaction.</p><p>Nicole grinned, oblivious. "Awesome. I'm thinking around six? I'll make sure he eats dinner before you come over so you won't have to worry about that." She said, then continued, "Me and Charlie are going to this play...Someone we used to work with is starring in it." She seemed excited as she talked about it and something about that made your stomach twist.</p><p>"Oh, that sounds like a lot of fun." You told her, really hoping your acting skills were coming in handy. The thought of Charlie and Nicole spending time alone, having fun on a date together...Your thoughts went back to your kitchen, her husband pressing your back against your sink and you had to remind yourself not to panic in front of her.</p><p>"Yeah..." Nicole's smile faltered just for a moment but you were able to catch it. It did <em>sound</em> fun but she knew in the back of her mind that it wouldn't be that simple. It never was with her and Charlie, they'd find something to argue about and ruin the entire night.</p><p>"Well, I'll send you a text with details tonight but plan for tomorrow at six, okay?" Nicole said, starting to descend down the staircase again, glancing at you as she did so.</p><p>"See you then." You told her halfheartedly, quickly turning on your heel so that you could start walking back up the stairs. Seeing her act so normal and casual with you was reassuring. At least she didn't know.</p><p>But it almost made you feel worse for what you'd done...she was so nice to you...</p><p>You opened the door to the rehearsal space and tried not to notice how almost everyone's heads turned to look at you, wondering who was joining them halfway through the day. Everyone was just getting settled back in from lunch, attempting to start the process of getting into the correct places.</p><p>Your eyes locked with Charlie's dark ones from across the room and you almost stopped your movement, wanting to just walk right back out of the door. But it was too late for that now. And besides, if you left, you'd just run right into Nicole again. You were trapped.</p><p>You kept your gaze to the floor, pretending to be preoccupied with something down there as you made your way over to him. Everyone else was distracted by a small disagreement on which line they left off on so no one was really paying you any attention now as you stood beside him.</p><p>"Hi." You said to him in a small voice, forcing yourself to look up at him.</p><p>He wasn't looking at you, instead he was staring down at the script in his hands. Really, he wasn't even reading it or looking anything over, Charlie just wasn't sure if he'd be able to look at you and control himself after what happened the night before. "Good afternoon." He said to you distractedly before addressing someone who passed in front of him, telling the actor where to go.</p><p>"Was it a slow morning?" You asked, shifting your weight on your feet, feeling awkward around him especially since you weren't sure what you were supposed to be doing.</p><p>"What do you mean?" Charlie asked you, still keeping his eyes on the papers in front of him, feeling too nervous to look over at you and make eye contact.</p><p>You faltered, feeling stupid. When you glanced around you saw the way that Kyle was waving at you, trying to get your attention with a grin on his face. You gave him a small wave in return with a polite smile. He was the least of your worries right now. "I just meant...because you know, you told me to come in late."</p><p>Charlie finally looked over at you, meaning for it just to be a quick glance but when he made eye contact with you, he couldn't look away. The memories rushed into his mind, how soft your skin was against his hand and the way your lips looked wrapped around his thumb...</p><p>"Oh, um-yeah." He snapped out of it, trying to remember what you had even asked him in the first place. "There wasn't much for you to do and I thought you might want to recover from last night." He said to you.</p><p>Really, that was a lie.</p><p>This morning it actually would've been helpful to have you around, he had to take his own notes and he kept getting distracted by them, it was easier when you were there to mark things down for him.</p><p>The real reason he told you to stay home was because he knew Nicole was going to be around in the morning. She was still waiting to hear back from an audition she went on and if she didn't get that part, then she'd be playing the lead in the play Charlie was currently working on. She stopped by to watch rehearsal and participate in what they had figured out so far.</p><p>Charlie was aware that there were going to be interactions between you and his wife in the future, you were their son's babysitter after all but he hadn't been prepared to deal with it that morning after what the two of you had done the night before.</p><p>"Last night?" You asked, frowning, "I wasn't <em>that</em> drunk." You told him, feeling heat rise on the back of your neck. You had been drunk enough to let go of your inhibitions around him but you hadn't been drunk enough to forget anything.</p><p>Charlie's eyes danced over you discreetly, wondering if that was really the case.</p><p>He barely got any sleep last night and for once, it had nothing to do with the fact that he was on the uncomfortable couch. This time, it was because he could only think about you.</p><p>When he got back to his apartment after rushing out of yours, Charlie was filled with mixed emotions. He felt so guilty, he felt like he took advantage of you and seeing his wife sleeping soundly in bed hadn't helped anything either. But at the same time, he felt like his body was buzzing, he kept wondering what would've happened if the two of you had both been single and in different situations...</p><p>Charlie went to sleep that night, with a pit in his stomach but also a feeling of excitement at the thought of picking you up and having his way with you on your kitchen countertop.</p><p>"You weren't?" He asked you, hating the way that his voice sounded hopeful. Maybe what you did with him wasn't out of your control, maybe you wanted it too...</p><p>"I mean I wasn't sober." You chuckled, embarrassed, "But I remember everything." You said, keeping your eyes locked on his as you said so, feeling your heartbeat speed up at the admission.</p><p>Charlie felt like he couldn't breathe for a moment. You remembered everything that happened and by the look in your eyes, he knew exactly what you were referencing when you said it. He quickly looked away from you, pretending to be caught up in something on the page in front of him.</p><p>"I'm going to have you help Marianne for the rest of the day, okay?" He said to you, motioning his head towards the door. "She's in the prop and costume room, she needs some help with organizing."</p><p>Your stomach dropped. He was just sending you away to the closet? You knew that some parts of this internship would seem tedious and wouldn't be the most inspiring but you thought you'd at least be given a task that had to with <em>directing</em>. You knew he would've never expected you to do this if last night hadn't happened.</p><p>"So... you're sending me away to do bitch work because you're too nervous to see me?" You asked, unable to stop yourself from expressing your frustration. You weren't just irritated that you had to do a meaningless task like this but you were also upset that the reason you were being forced to do it, was because of something that happened outside of work. It wasn't fair, in your eyes.</p><p>Charlie froze at your words, eyebrows shooting up in question. After last night he was fully aware of the fact that you weren't as innocent as you originally came across but it was still surprising to him to see this side of you. "Bitch work?" He repeated, his tone incredulous. "This is an internship, you should be glad there's any work at all for you to do."</p><p>You were taken back by his grumpiness, his sudden shift into frustration as he spoke to you. It was the first time you'd ever seen him be anything but accommodating towards you and you hadn't been expecting it. As much as you would've preferred that he was being sweet to you, there was something satisfying about this. He was showing you a side of himself that he wouldn't have before. After what happened the night before, the need to be polite was out of the window, it was different now.</p><p>You blinked in response, glancing towards the room of people who were waiting on Charlie's next instruction. This wasn't the time or place. "I'll go see what Marianne needs." You muttered, feeling the need to just get away from him.</p><p>Charlie watched you leave, a frown on his face. He didn't mean to snap at you but he was just so...<em>stressed</em> having you around.</p><p>As he watched the door of the rehearsal room shut behind you, he also noticed this sort of excitement he felt deep inside...He'd seen you speak your mind before but never because you were upset.</p><p>He suddenly had this urge to chase after you and push you against the wall of the stairwell and teach you a lesson for speaking to him the way you did...</p><p>Charlie shook his head at himself, trying to snap out of it. "Okay, are we ready?" He asked the group, as if they hadn't been waiting on him to start this entire time. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>It was becoming pretty clear to you that Marianne was insufferable.</p><p>She had you going through a pile of recently washed clothes, figuring out which part of the rack to put them on depending on which character/actor they were for. It wasn't thrilling but it wouldn't be half as bad if she wasn't just sitting and staring at you do it.</p><p>You noticed that she occasionally pretended to be flipping through fabric samples but every time you'd glance over at her, she'd be either looking at you or at the racks to make sure that you were putting things where they were supposed to be. Clearly, she was excited that she had someone doing her work for her.</p><p>"So..." She started, almost in a sing-song way. "I heard about you." She said to you, wagging her eyebrows in an accusingly suggestive way.</p><p>"What?" You asked her quickly, almost dropping the pair of pants in your hand as you did so. "What did you hear?" You asked her. You were tired of your heart speeding up like this. How could she know about you and Charlie? There was no way...At least that was what you tried to tell yourself.</p><p>"You and Kyle." Marianne said with a grin.</p><p>Your heart immediately went back to an average rhythm but that didn't stop your confusion from being displayed on your face. "Kyle?" You asked, not sure what she meant.</p><p>She laughed, pretending to look around the room. "You don't have to say anything...I just heard him talking about you. Apparently the two of you had fun at the bar last night." She said to you with a smirk.</p><p>You turned your back towards her so that you could compose yourself. Your immediate reaction was to shut it down. You and Kyle might've drunkenly flirted a little even though you weren't interested in him. You didn't want anyone thinking that there was anything more than that between you two. But...if people started suspecting that you had a thing with Kyle maybe they wouldn't notice you and Charlie...</p><p>"I don't know." You shrugged, pretending that you were conflicted about it. "I don't think it's smart to get involved with someone you work with." You told her, hanging a shirt up on a hanger as you did so.</p><p>Marianne was grinning wider behind you now, thinking about it. "I mean, it's probably not the smartest. But it's exciting, isn't it?" She asked you.</p><p>When you glanced over your shoulder at her, she was staring off with a dreamy look in her eyes. You had no idea that the woman across from you was thinking about <em>Charlie</em>, about how attracted she was to him. Over the years they've worked together, the two had never had any physical contact with each other but there had been moments of flirting. For Charlie, it was no big deal, but for Marianne...she was head over heels for him.</p><p>Ironically, your mind was also on Charlie, about what the two of you did the night before. "I guess it sort of is exciting." You admitted, biting back the smile creeping its way onto your face. It was stressful and it made you nervous but really, it was <em>exciting</em> in a certain way.</p><p>You continued to help Marianne throughout the rest of the afternoon, aka: you continued to do Marianne's<em> work for he</em>r throughout the rest of the afternoon.</p><p>As it got time for the day to be over, your eyes widened when you checked your phone and saw that you had a text message from Charlie. You held your screen close to you as you opened it, nervous that somehow Marianne would be able to read the test from across the room.</p><p>'<em>Stop by my office before you leave for the day</em>' was what the text message said.</p><p>This was it, you thought to yourself, you were going to get fired. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>Walking up to Charlie's office, you felt like you had bricks tied to your feet, you were so nervous and it was difficult to even force yourself to make your way in his direction. You contemplated pretending like you didn't get the text until you were already home but then you'd have to face him tomorrow in his own apartment and it would just make this even more awkward.</p><p>His office door was open and you hovered in the doorway, glancing inside.</p><p>Charlie was at his desk, typing away at his computer with a concentrated look on his face. He had a pair of glasses on, his eyes still squinting as he took in the small words on the screen in front of him.</p><p>You knocked gently on the doorframe, trying to get his attention without scaring him.</p><p>He glanced up at you, surprised, even though he'd been the one to ask you to stop by. "Come in." He told you, shutting his laptop as you made your way inside.</p><p>You watched the way he became flustered now that you were around, smoothing his shirt out and taking off the pair of reading glasses on his face and setting them on the desk in front of him.</p><p>Technically you could've grabbed one of the chairs against the wall and moved it up so that you could sit in front of his desk but you didn't feel comfortable enough to do that right now. Instead, you stood in front of him and let your fingers tangle with each other, nervously cracking your knuckles as you stared at him, nervous.</p><p>"I'm sorry." You told him, frowning. "I didn't mean to be...disrespectful earlier." You said, feeling dumb all of a sudden. If he were really <em>just</em> your boss, it would be no problem for you to apologize to him. But it seemed so stupid now after your clear attraction to each other. You weren't sure how to talk to him.</p><p>Charlie wasn't expecting that. He leaned back in his desk chair, sighing. "Don't apologize." He said to you gently, shaking his head. "I <em>did</em> give you bitch work." He admitted, hand going to his chin in thought. He'd been selfish with you. He personally couldn't handle being close to you so he sent you away...A part of him appreciated your ability to call him out on it.</p><p>You shuffled on your feet, it was your turn to be surprised by his response. "Why'd you do it?" You asked him, voice smaller than you intended it to be.</p><p>Charlie was uncomfortable, he wasn't sure how much he wanted to say. This conversation could go one of two ways. One way would make sure things stayed professional between the two of you and the other, well...He looked back over at you. "I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to handle it... Being around you." Is what he said, clearly he cut himself off from saying what he was really thinking.</p><p>Your stomach fluttered at the fact that he was bringing up what you'd been thinking about the entire day and all of the night before. "Because of last night?" You asked him, your tone of voice was hopeful, eager to have him confirm that last night actually happened.</p><p>Charlie sat up straight again, his elbows on the desk in front of him so that he could rest his head in his hands to think. He thought it over. He originally wanted to just pretend the encounter in your apartment never happened, ignore it and maybe it would go away. If he spoke to you about it now...that wouldn't be an option. The two of you would never be able to turn back. Maybe that's what he wanted.</p><p>He moved his head out of his hands, staring up at you. "Shut the door." He decided, his voice serious.</p><p>You froze, blinking, as you took in what he just said to you. But then when it clicked, you quickly nodded and did as he said, shutting the office door behind you. The two of you were most likely the only ones in the building but still, privacy was always welcomed.</p><p>When you turned back to face him, he was still staring at you with that serious expression, sitting behind his desk.</p><p>You hesitated by the door, that same feeling of intimacy overwhelming you that you felt last night. You two were <em>alone</em>. You couldn't help yourself from moving over to the desk, making your way behind it so that you were next to where he was sitting as opposed to across from him.</p><p>Charlie backed up in his chair, his breathing heavier at your now close contact with him.</p><p>You took a cautious seat on the top of his desk, on the small spot that wasn't covered with papers and crossed your leg over the other, keeping eye contact with him as you did so.</p><p>Charlie found it difficult to look into your eyes as you moved your legs, so close to him. He could touch you. He <em>wanted</em> to touch you.</p><p>"If you want to fire me...." You said sadly, "I understand. If you don't want me around..." You trailed off, your eyes wide as you looked over at him. Why would he want to keep you as his intern when you were constantly starting problems for him? "I just need to know so that I can start looking for other jobs, you know."</p><p>Charlie ran a hand over his face, shaking his head. "I'm not going to fire you," He said, "If you want to quit...I understand, you just have to let me know, okay? I can write a great recommendation letter for you." He looked up at you, with knitted brows, feeling bad just saying the words out loud.</p><p>"Quit?" You asked, surprised, unable to hold back your laughter. "I don't want to quit, Charlie."</p><p>That wasn't the answer Charlie was expecting, he assumed you'd want nothing to do with him. "Look, you don't have to pretend with me...I've been feeling terrible all day about what happened. I should never have gone back to your apartment with you. You were drunk and I'm your boss...I took advantage of the situation and... I'm sorry." He leaned back in his seat, hands on the arms of his desk hair as he spoke to you.</p><p>You realized then why he was acting so strange. Not only was Charlie holding himself back from picking up where the two of you left off but he was also kicking himself for thinking that he must've made you uncomfortable.</p><p>"You shouldn't be sorry." You said softly. You had to look away from him, eyes going to your shoes, feeling more shy for the things you were about to say to him. "I've felt terrible all day too but only because of who we are and what our situation is...I guess the reason why I feel <em>so</em> guilty is because...I don't regret it, I don't regret what we did."</p><p>Charlie froze at your words, his hands gripping the arm rests of his chair underneath him as he realized what you were saying. You didn't regret it...He didn't respond, mind spinning at all of the implications behind that statement.</p><p>Your gaze went back to him, faltering slightly when you saw the way he was staring at you. But you continued, "If it had been up to me, I wouldn't have stopped, you wouldn't have left when you did...I wanted to touch you," You bit your lip, "I <em>want</em> to touch you...I want you."</p><p>Charlie felt like he had the wind knocked out of him in the best way possible, his heartbeat thumping his ears.</p><p>You couldn't believe that you were being this bold, you never were. But you couldn't help yourself, you wanted him so badly and he was right there in front of you. It was like an itch, you had to scratch it, you had to tell him how you felt.</p><p>"You want <em>me</em>?" He couldn't believe it. Charlie really had no idea how attractive he was and it had been such a long time since someone made him feel like he was. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that someone like you wanted him and the fact that he had been beating himself up all day for nothing.</p><p>You sighed in frustration, "Don't make me say it again." You pleaded, feeling embarrassed that you not only told him that but now he was questioning it, wanting you to repeat yourself.</p><p>Charlie was silent again, hand going to his mouth in thought. There was no turning back now, you wanted him and fuck, he really wanted you.</p><p>A voice in the back of his mind was telling him to stop. He knew that at this point he should be telling you to leave and that you should find a job somewhere else. He should be attempting to save his marriage but the louder voice in his mind was telling him to grab you and kiss you and do everything he'd been fantasizing about since he met you.</p><p>You were mortified, taking his silence as his way of letting you know that the feeling isn't mutual. You pushed off of his desk that you were still sitting on in an attempt to get back on your feet and get the hell out of there before you melted into a puddle of shame.</p><p>"Don't go." Charlie said, his hand going to your ankle, the first thing that he was able to grab based on your position sitting on his desk the way that you were. His large hand easily wrapped around you. His grip was gentle but stern, funnily enough, Charlie himself could be described as the same.</p><p>You stared at his hand against you, your pulse drumming in your chest. You slowly let yourself look at him, met with his intense but cautious eyes.</p><p>"I want you too." He said simply but the way his jaw tense and eye twitched said it all. He <em>really</em> wanted you. "I've wanted you since I first met you." Charlie admitted, his grip tightening in a hesitant way as he did so.</p><p>You exhaled shakily, not moving away from him, enjoying the way it felt for him to touch you again. "What do we do?" You asked him nervously, a part of you wondered if he would come to his senses and realize how wrong this was...<em>god</em>, you hoped not.</p><p>Charlie thought about it, lips pursing in thought. "I don't know." He admitted, just as nervous as you were. He had no idea what to do. Charlie wasn't used to being involved in scandals, he was always so caught up in his job and his family, he never had the opportunity to do something like this. He had no idea how to handle it.</p><p>You two were silent for a long moment now, just staring at each other and breathing heavily, his hand still around your ankle. This was it, there was no way that two of you could just move on and pretend this didn't happen. It was all out in the open now.</p><p>Suddenly things were awkward and you almost felt sick with nerves. You weren't sure if you should just walk out or if you should make a move...you didn't understand what any of this meant.</p><p>You tensed when you felt the way that Charlie was pulling gently on your ankle, moving it so that your foot was against his thigh. You raised an eyebrow but then couldn't help from breathlessly chuckling when you saw what he was doing.</p><p>Tying your shoe.</p><p>"It was untied." He muttered, grinning at the situation, how out of place this action was in the midst of what you two had been admitting to each other. But he felt overwhelmed by the heaviness of the air and he needed an excuse to touch you, to break that tension.</p><p>You couldn't help the way that you were nervously giggling now, watching the concentrated way that he was tying your laces, pretending like this was no big deal, like the two of you hadn't just disclosed that you wanted to fuck each other. Charlie was laughing a little too, shaking his head at himself, this was all too much for him.</p><p>You held your skirt down in between your now slightly parted legs, covering up your lace panties as he expertly tied your shoe for you.</p><p>He glanced up at you, keeping his hands on your shoe as his laughter died down, remembering that tension that was hanging in the air that he had been momentarily able to push away. "I love your laugh." He told you genuinely, his face serious as he did so.</p><p>You bit your lip as your laughter instantly died off, caught off guard by the earnest compliment that he had just given you. You didn't respond, you felt stupid telling him 'thank you' and honestly, you were too anxious to form anything clever.</p><p>"And these legs..." Charlie mumbled, as he slowly moved a hand up from your foot to your ankle to your shin. His eyes moved up to meet yours, letting the intensity of your stare wash over him instead of running from it. "Do you know how hard it is to get work done when you walk around looking like this?"</p><p>Your cheeks heated up, your nerves making the blood rush there, your hand grasped at the material of your skirt that you were still holding in place. "You're all I think about..." You admitted to him, your eyes widening at the fact that you were being so honest with him.</p><p>Charlie didn't say anything to that, instead he smiled to himself at the thought of it. You thinking about him...It was so comforting to know that he wasn't alone in his desires. His hand slowly went up your leg. He stopped when he got to the top of your socks, a few inches above your knee and he made eye contact with you again. "I swear you only wear these because you know how much I like them." His voice was deeper now, his arousal becoming more apparent with the more he touched you and talked to you in the way he was.</p><p>"You like them?" You asked him, practically batting your eyelashes at him, just wanting to hear him say it out loud.</p><p>"I love the way you dress." He told you, his finger absentmindedly going underneath the top of your sock, feeling your bare skin against his. He couldn't remember the last time he did this with someone, talked openly and sexually. Even when him and Nicole were still having sex, towards the end of that it had just been going through the motions. He loved this. "Do you do it on purpose? Do you get all pretty in the morning just to see me?"</p><p>You couldn't help the intake of breath you took, thinking back to the way you'd spin in your mirror and imagine if Charlie would think you looked good or not. "Maybe." You answered, embarrassed for him to know the whole truth of the situation.</p><p>"Mmm I think you do." Charlie hummed to himself, more fingers joining the original one that had snuck under the material of your sock. He slowly slid his hand back down your leg, removing the sock as he did so, exposing your bare skin to him. You tried to ignore the cool metal of his wedding ring against you as he did so, instead watching the ways his pupils dilated in his dark eyes.</p><p>"You were mad at me earlier." Charlie continued, glancing up at you as he started trailing his fingers up and down your bare leg, getting higher up each time he got to your thigh, teasing you.</p><p>You could hardly think and it took a second to realize what he was even saying. You <em>had</em> been mad at him earlier, when he sent you away to the costume closet with Marianne. Now, alone with him in his office with his hand all over you, that seemed so long ago. You nodded in response to his question, trying to control yourself as his large hand went to your inner thigh for a brief moment.</p><p>"At first I thought you were upset about the work I wanted you to do but I think I get it now..." He couldn't help the hint of a smirk that made its way onto his lips. "I think you were just upset that you weren't getting all of my attention...You love it, don't you? The way I take care of you." Charlie glanced up at you, his fingertips digging in just slightly in the soft skin of your thigh.</p><p>You had done such a good job holding yourself back but you couldn't help the small moan that left your lips at that, eyebrows furrowed in arousal, nodding your head. Charlie touching you and talking to you like this felt like a dream.</p><p>A wide grin spread on Charlie's face at your reaction, pleased that you really did want him. It had been so long since someone had been this into him, this responsive to his words and touch, it felt so good.</p><p>"When I first met you, I thought you were so innocent...Now I'm not so sure." Charlie said to you, his eyes dancing as they narrowed on you, his hand pausing on your thigh before he suddenly stood up from his seat, letting your foot dangle from the desk again instead of resting against him.</p><p>He moved in between your slightly parted legs, right against the edge of his desk as he stared down at you. "Do you want to know what I think?" Charlie asked you, his hands going to your knees, one skin bare and the other one the material still covering it.</p><p>"What do you think?" You asked him, hanging on his every word. This was so wrong, you two shouldn't even be attracted to each other, it was especially fucked up to act on it, at <em>work</em> of all places too.</p><p>Charlie leaned down closer to you, jaw clenching at the way that your hand grabbed onto the fabric of his sweater to pull him down more. He moved his face down to yours, hands gripping at your knees that were so small in his palms. "I think you're a little brat." He said simply, a smirk on his face after he did so, watching the way that you reacted to that.</p><p>The air escaped your lungs when you heard that, biting your bottom lip to hide the smile that you wanted to give him. Your back instantly arched towards him as he leaned down so that you could feel his nose against the crook of your neck, his breath against your collarbone. "I thought I was a good girl." You teased him, reminding him of what he had called you in the past, last night after his thumb had entered your mouth.</p><p>You were able to feel the low rumble of a chuckle leaving Charlie's chest, his hands moving from your knees to the outside of your thighs. God, he wanted you so badly but this was so much fun, teasing each other in the way that you two were. It had been so long for him. "I don't think good girls do <em>this</em>, sweetheart." He said in a deep voice, his lips brushing against your warm skin, causing you to sigh and grasp tighter at his sweater.</p><p>He pulled away from you so that he could see your reaction, to make sure that you were still into this the way you had been a moment ago. As much as he wanted you, there was still a bit of hesitance there, not convinced that he wasn't exerting his power as his boss over you. But when he caught a glimpse of the lustful way your eyes were glazed over and the way your chest was heaving with each breath, he was convinced.</p><p>"You're so beautiful." Charlie couldn't help himself from saying, looking you over. Then his lips were back on your neck, kissing your skin there while his hands wandered from the outside of your thighs to your hips, gripping you there with a groan.</p><p>"Oh god." You muttered to yourself, a hand going to the back of his head so that you could tangle your fingers into his dark hair, it was just as soft as you imagined it would be. "Charlie." You breathed out, your grip on the fabric of his sweater moved to press against his back, pulling him as close to you as you could.</p><p>One of Charlie's hands went up under your shirt, letting out a grunt as he felt you shudder at the feeling of his hand against the bare skin of your waist. His tongue ghosted over the spot on your neck he'd been kissing, wanting to hear all of the noises you could make for him.</p><p>"Fuck." You whined, a leg wrapping around him, your skirt riding up your thigh as you did so.</p><p>"I like the way that sounds, baby." Charlie whispered, his kisses moving up the side of your neck. He loved hearing you cuss, it reminded him of the first time you did it in front of him, when you two first met after you ran into him on the stairwell. The same stairwell that was right outside of his office door.</p><p>You pulled at his hair, wanting him to stop kissing your neck so that he could kiss your lips, unable to take this teasing anymore. You wanted him so badly and you were so close to finally having him.</p><p>Charlie got the hint, pulling away from your skin so that he could look down at you, swallowing hard at how close your faces were to each other's.</p><p>You two felt like you were in your own world, making decisions based only on the lust you were feeling and the longing inside. Nothing mattered besides each other.</p><p>But then, Charlie's phone began ringing next to you on his desk and it was like someone flipped a light switch on, illuminating the two of you in realization of what you were actually doing.</p><p>"Ignore it." Charlie said, shaking his head, not taking his eyes off of you as his hand moved to the surface of his desk, searching for his phone so that he could silence the ringer, not ready to face reality. He wanted to stay in this world with you.</p><p>You tried your best to ignore it, not wanting this moment to end. But you couldn't help yourself from glancing down at where the sound was coming from, next to your thigh was his phone and the name lighting up the screen was, 'Nicole'.</p><p>You handed it to him, frowning, unable to meet his gaze now that you were faced with the guilt you had been feeling all day but this time it was so much more intense, more pressing because Charlie was on top of you and you were staring at her name and the small contact photo that came up as well. It was of her, Charlie, and Henry, probably on vacation somewhere. They were smiling and touching and you felt like you were going to be sick.</p><p>Charlie silenced the ringer, his hands shaking violently as he did so before he set it back down on his desk. He didn't know what to say, he felt like an asshole and he was ashamed that he felt that way in front of you.</p><p>"I should go anyways." You told him, pulling your shirt down and smoothing out your skirt so that it was riding up as much as it had been a moment ago. "I have plans tonight and I can't be late." You lied. You had no plans but you needed to get out of there, for both of your sakes.</p><p>It took him a moment to think over how he wanted to respond but eventually Charlie moved away from you, no longer pressing you against the messy surface of his desk.</p><p>You cautiously stood back onto your feet, bending over to pull your sock up that he'd brushed off your leg. You couldn't breathe, everything had just happened so quickly and you didn't want him to see how much all of it had affected you.</p><p>Charlie was running his hand through his hair, ignoring the way that Nicole sent him a few text messages right after he missed her call, trying to ignore the way that his wife existed at all after what he'd just done with you.</p><p>"I'm so sorry." He managed to say, his deep voice trembling as he did so.</p><p>You looked up at him. You didn't want this to change things again, you didn't want tomorrow and the days after it to be like the day you had today, where you were trying to avoid each other. "Don't be sorry." You told him, shaking your head.</p><p>Charlie raised his eyebrows, confused.</p><p>You saw how lost he was and your heart broke for him. This was just as much your fault as it was his and now he was all on his own to deal with it. You got to go home to your apartment alone and distract yourself. But he didn't have that option, he had to face his wife after that. You wanted to assure him that you weren't judging him, you weren't going to pretend it ever happened.</p><p>You stood on your tiptoes, placing a kiss to his cheek. "I still want it, Mr. Barber...And I won't tell anyone about us." You assured him, lips brushing against his skin as you did so, grinning. You stood back on your feet and turned towards the door, going to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow." You winked at him over your shoulder.</p><p>Charlie stared after you with his mouth slightly open, shocked. As terrible as he felt about going behind Nicole's back, his excitement for you was outweighing it.</p><p>He put a hand over his chest, feeling his heart thump through his skin. He hadn't felt this <em>alive</em> in years.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Thunderstorm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You were convinced that standing in Charlie Barber's apartment would always be a <em>fucking weird</em> experience.   </p><p>    Actually, as you walked in the front door and politely kicked your shoes off, it was even more uncomfortable than it had been the first time you were there because last time you were there, you hadn't spent the night before with Charlie pressing you against his desk.</p><p>    "Hi, perfect timing, we were hoping to leave a little early." Nicole said as she moved so she was able to shut the door behind you.</p><p>    You tried to ignore how pretty Nicole looked as she fastened an earring behind her ear, more dressed up than you'd seen her before. It wasn't lost on you that she probably spent time getting ready for their date, it made you sad. "I could've shown up earlier than this if you needed me to." You assured her.</p><p>    She waved her hand dismissively, a smile on her face.  "Oh, no, you're fine." She said to you genuinely. Nicole asked you to get to the apartment at six and you were here fifteen minutes early. "I appreciate it."</p><p>    You heard your name being yelled excitedly and then Henry was running into the room, sliding in his socks around the corner with a few toys in his hands, setting them on the living room table so that you could play with him.</p><p>    "Hi, Henry." You grinned, heart warming at how happy he was to see  you. You got the idea that he needed a little more one on one attention than he was currently getting from his parents. It was becoming pretty clear to you how broken Charlie and Nicole's marriage really was, how much time they focused on trying to fix it. You reminded yourself that you were only furthering the wedge between them.</p><p>    "He ate already," Nicole was talking to you but she was distracted, grabbing various items like keys and putting them into her purse. "Feel free to help yourself to anything, if you're hungry. He might ask for a snack later and it's up to you if you want to give it to him."</p><p>    "Oh, thank you." You told her, feeling even more guilty because of how accommodating she was being to you. "Same bed time as before?"</p><p>    "Same as before." She agreed, patting down the pockets of her jacket and glancing inside her purse, making sure she had everything she needed. "Charlie, we should get going!" Nicole yelled in the direction of the hallway, sending you an apologetic smile for talking loudly so close to you.</p><p>    At the mention of Charile's name, even though you were fully aware you'd have to see him, your heart sped up. You hadn't been around the two of them at the same time since you and Charlie had been so close to each other in your kitchen and after what happened after work the night before, the situation was so much more complicated.</p><p>    Charlie had been standing in his bedroom, listening to the conversation you and Nicole had been having since you walked in.  He was trying to work up the nerve to walk out and see the two of you standing with each other, he wasn't sure how he'd handle it.</p><p>    It was strange. He wasn't <em>happy</em> about betraying Nicole but he was surprised by how okay he was with what the two of you had done. It was fucked up on many levels. But Charlie had been lonely and unhappy for so long, a part of him thought he <em>deserved</em> you. It was selfish but it was the truth, he felt like he deserved to feel appreciated and wanted, it was part of the twisted way he justified his feelings and actions towards you.</p><p>    As he exited the bedroom and made his way into the living room, he had to tell himself not to hesitate in his strides when he saw you standing there. It was almost comical, how you looked like an angel but you were bringing so much sin into his life.</p><p>    "Hi." He greeted you, calling you by your name. He kept it casual, a small nod in your direction as he grabbed his jacket from the hook next to the door, trying to stop himself from looking at you for a few seconds too long and making things suspicious. He didn't know how to do this, he'd never had to be sneaky before.</p><p>    "Hi, Mr. Barber." You said to him, causing him to look over at you with widened eyes, not expecting to be turned on like this in this situation, it was the last thing he needed.</p><p>    Charlie's look turned disapproving as Nicole made her way over to Henry to say goodbye to him. She was currently oblivious. "What did I tell you about calling me that?" He asked you in a low voice, looking down at you with a slightly clenched jaw.</p><p>    You bit your bottom lip, trying not to grin at how much it threw him off just to hear you say that. You really hadn't even meant to get him excited, it was still just an instinct to call your boss by his last name. "Sorry." You said simply, glancing over at Nicole who was still hugging Henry.</p><p>    Charlie's eyes went over to his wife as well, making sure that she was preoccupied enough for him to lean down, pretending to tie his shoe so that he could mutter out, "Brat."</p><p>    You froze in place, the blood rushing to your face. Now it was your turn to be flustered.</p><p>    "Bye, Henry." Charlie called out to his son as he stood back up, ignoring the way you were trying to compose yourself as he moved closer to the living room, meeting Henry in a short hug. </p><p>    Nicole was back over by the door, where you were still standing and it caused you to pull yourself together enough to move past her and into the living room so that you could take a seat on the couch, in front of the toys that Henry had brought in.</p><p>    "We should be home a little after nine." Nicole called out to you, completely unaware of the moment that you and Charlie had just shared with each other. </p><p>    "Sounds good." You said to her, unable to make eye contact, instead you kept your gaze down at the table and on Henry as he rushed back over to you, talking in a quick voice about things that he wanted to show you.</p><p>    The two of them opened the door and started to leave.</p><p>    "Be good, okay?" Charlie called out, hand on the door handle. From everyone else's perspective, he was talking to Henry but with the way he was staring directly at you, a smirk on his face, you were fully aware of who he was really referring to.</p><p>    You shot him an irritated look but had a grin on your lips as you waved goodbye to him. As much as being around him made you nervous, you couldn't deny the fact that you enjoyed the butterflies in your stomach. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>Throughout the night, you played with the toys Henry wanted to show you and watched a few episodes of some tv show that he liked, trying to ignore the way that your mind was constantly wandering to his <em>father</em>.</p><p>    You never considered yourself the type of person to be attracted to a married man, let alone <em>act</em> on the attraction. Compared to most people around you, whether back at home in Illinois or here in New York, you were shy and nervous. You weren't the most confident about yourself and a lot of people thought you were naive; perhaps at times they were right.</p><p>    You based a lot of your self worth on how others perceived you, as much as you hated to admit it. And you knew in the back of your mind that it was an ego boost that someone as successful as Charlie was willing to put his marriage on the line just because he wanted you.</p><p>    The situation between you and Charlie was wrong,<em> really wrong</em>. But somehow, despite that, it made you happy. It was the reason your actions were so bold with him. It wasn't because you were a bold person, quite the opposite actually, but because you were just so eager to please him.</p><p>    You were lost in these thoughts when you felt Henry slump against your side, letting out a loud and dramatic yawn, snapping you out of it.</p><p>    "Are you tired?" You asked him, amused, as if he wasn't trying to make it obvious to you. You couldn't lie, you were getting sleepy too. It was a rainy night and the sound of it hitting the window outside was calming.</p><p>    Henry didn't respond, instead he started to pretend to snore, just as dramatically as his yawn had been.</p><p>    You glanced at the clock and saw that it was a few minutes before his bedtime so you decided you might as well start getting him ready now. "Okay, sleepy-head, let's stand up so you can brush your teeth." You nudged him with the shoulder he was leaning on.</p><p>    It took a few more gentle nudges before Henry moved away from you and stood up from the couch, doing his best impression of what looked like a zombie as he made his way to his room with you.</p><p>    After brushing his teeth and getting his pajamas on, you began the process of tucking him into bed. "Did you have fun tonight?" You asked him, pulling his blankets up over him.</p><p>    "Yeah." He answered you, letting out a genuine yawn. "Are you gonna babysit me all the time?"</p><p>    You took a seat at the edge of the end of his bed, "I'm supposed to babysit you at nights and on the weekends, is that okay with you?"</p><p>    "I'm okay with it."  Henry replied, "My other babysitter is so boring...And old." He said, referring to the woman who watched him during the day if Charlie and Nicole both had work.</p><p>    "That's not very nice." You said but you were smiling. Henry was sort of a little shit but you found it entertaining. Babysitting someone like him was a lot easier than a kid who didn't want to do anything and didn't feel comfortable around you, you definitely preferred this.</p><p>    Henry said nothing, his eyes closing.</p><p>    You stood up from his bed and almost tripped on the pillow sitting on the ground. You weren't sure how you missed the makeshift bed below you, a pillow and multiple blankets aligned on the floor in a comfortable way.    </p><p>    "Did you sleep on the floor last night?" You asked him as you began picking up what you'd tripped on. You folded up the blankets and set them on the chair in the corner of his room, out of the way. That last thing you needed was him to trip and hurt himself and be blamed for it.</p><p>    "No, dad did." Henry answered you, rolling on his side so that he could look at you as he spoke to you.</p><p>    "He did?" You asked, cursing the way that the mention of Charlie intrigued you.</p><p>    "I had a bad dream so he slept on the floor." He said, before rolling over again so that his back was to you, wordlessly telling you that he was ready to sleep.</p><p>    You were grinning like an idiot as you turned his lights off, making sure his night light went on as you did so. You were thinking about how sweet it was that Charlie slept on the floor just to comfort Henry. You tried to imagine it, Charlie's tall body all curled up on the ground, trying to get comfortable.</p><p>    "Goodnight." You whispered to Henry before quietly shutting his door, not wanting to disturb him as you made your way back out to the living room. You had around an hour before Charlie and Nicole were supposed to be home so you decided to get comfortable.</p><p>    You settled on the couch, pulling your feet up next to you as you flipped through the TV channels. You didn't have a television in your apartment and the wifi was shit so sometimes watching Youtube or Netflix was a struggle as well. It was nice, being able to just let your guard down in a place that wasn't as small and stressful as your apartment, which was ironic considering whose home you were in.</p><p>    After a few moments of relaxation, you noticed that the rain outside was quickly turning into a thunderstorm. Storms always freaked you out. The storms that happened where you were from were usually tornados, or at least winds that were close enough to them, usually not a calm storm at least. You turned the channel to the News, sighing when you saw that the city was currently under a severe weather warning.</p><p>Really, you hated storms. </p><p>    You couldn't help but jump slightly when you heard the door open. You were already jumpy because of the weather and you hadn't been expecting anyone home so soon. When you looked over, you saw Charile and Nicole walking inside, practically dripping wet from the rain outside.</p><p>    "You guys are home early." You noted, adjusting your position so that you were sitting normally, instead of the way you'd been comfortably lounging.</p><p>    "The power went out at the theater." Nicole said, rolling her eyes as she shook her jacket out over the doormat, "It was a nightmare getting home, everyone's trying to get rides at once and it wasn't exactly safe to walk outside that far."</p><p>Charlie ran a hand through his wet hair, glancing over at you as he kicked his shoes off. It was still very alarming to see you in his home so casually.</p><p>"Did you have fun, at least?" You asked, feeling awkward as you turned the television off, slowly standing up and smoothing your skirt down.</p><p>"Yeah, it was pretty decent from what we were actually able to see." Nicole shrugged. You noticed the way that she only commented on the play, not on the time that her and Charlie had together.</p><p>Charlie made a noise of agreement.</p><p>Really, they had started fighting right before the curtains opened and it made the entire time they sat together tense and awkward.</p><p>It had been about something small, Nicole mentioned that when she was going to visit her sister in California in a few days, she decided to bring Henry along. Charlie hadn't been upset that she wanted to bring their son with but he wished he would've been asked what he thought about Henry missing multiple days of school before she just decided to go through with it.</p><p>And now, sitting in their living room as they attempted to dry off in the doorway, you were able to feel the tension between the couple. You wanted to just run out of the door.</p><p>"I don't think you should leave right now." Nicole said to you with a frown, noticing the way that you were standing up and starting to gather your belongings together. "The storm's pretty bad." She added.</p><p>Charlie held back a sigh behind her, moving so that he could go into his bedroom, wanting to get out of the wet clothes that he had on. His wife was right, you shouldn't go out in the storm but at the same time, the idea of you hanging around his apartment with the two of them made him nervous.</p><p>"Really?" You asked, growing just as nervous as Charlie was. Not only did it make you uncomfortable to be around them at the same time but you also just didn't like storms and knowing that it was too dangerous to leave worried you.</p><p>"I don't think I'd feel comfortable letting you leave until it calms down." Nicole said to  you, "One second, I need to change." She said, almost able to wring out the shirt that she had on because of how much rain was on it.</p><p>Now you were by yourself again in the living room and you made your way over to the sliding glass door, staring out of it and over the railing of the balcony so that you were able to see the rain outside.</p><p>"Scared of storms?" You heard a voice drawl out behind you. You could see in the reflection of the glass door that Charlie was standing behind you, not that you wouldn't have been able to to recognize his voice anyways.</p><p>"Kind of." You answered him honestly, turning around to face him. Your eyebrows shot up when you saw what he was wearing, a casual t-shirt and sweatpants, it was the first time you'd seen him in anything that wasn't his usual work clothes. It felt intimate to see him in something so casual, you were getting a glimpse at who he was when you weren't around.</p><p>Charlie pretended not to notice the way that you were looking him over. He still wasn't used to the way that you were so attracted to him, it always seemed to catch him off guard. "Well, I think Nicole is right, you should stick around until it's safer outside." He told you, trying to hold himself back from comforting you more, not wanting his wife to come out and see him showing you any extra attention.</p><p>"Do you think that's a good idea?" You asked him, almost in a whisper, so that you were sure he was the only one who could hear you. Just being this close to him was driving you crazy.</p><p>"We don't have another option." He told you, his voice just as quiet as yours was. He was looking down at you with a serious expression but his eyes were dancing. As guilty as it made him and although he'd beat himself up about his feelings for you the next time he was alone, having you in front of him was more exciting than anything.</p><p>Nicole made her way back into the living room, wearing comfortable clothes.  She walked into the kitchen and poured herself some water, offering a glass to the both of you, which you and Charlie declined. She had no idea about the two of you. In her eyes, Charlie was just your boss and the uncomfortableness that she was feeling came from the fact that he found you attractive and he wasn't sure how to act because of it. In her mind, there was no way that you shared the same attraction, let alone act on it.</p><p>Nicole asked you a few questions about Henry, when he went to sleep and if he gave you any trouble. Every time her back was turned or she was distracted, you could feel Charlie's eyes on you from where he took a seat on the couch in the living room.</p><p>"I'm really exhausted, I think I'm going to get some sleep but feel free to stay here until the warning gets lifted, okay?" She assured you. "Do you need anything?"</p><p>You shook your head, your eyes glancing between her and the window, trying to ignore the loud gusts of winds that were audible over the sound of rain, still standing in the same spot by the glass door. "I'm fine. I'll just watch TV until it's okay to go." You told her. You felt like such a nuisance, she didn't even realize the half of the troubles you were bringing into her life.</p><p>"How about you?" Nicole asked Charlie as she started walking towards the hallway, glancing over her shoulder at him.</p><p>"In a second." He told her, letting her know that he'd be going to bed soon too. Charlie turned his attention towards you, "If you're going to be sticking around, I thought I could show you that scene from the movie I was referring to at work yesterday." He said, grabbing the remote, trying to sound casual. "You know, the one that I kind of envision the intense scene at the end will look like in the play."</p><p>You were glad that you spent most of your college degree working on acting skills because you were able to keep your face as expressionless as possible as you listened to him. You knew that he hadn't referred to a specific scene at work, he was just making up an excuse to stay alone with you.</p><p>"Oh, right." You said, moving away from the window, "That would be helpful, I couldn't find it online." You lied, making it sound more believable.</p><p>Nicole chuckled and shook her head, "Charlie never stops working." She said. It seemed almost like a compliment on the surface, he was a hardworking man. But you could see the bitterness in her eyes, a small bit of it in the tone of her voice. She resented him for how much energy he put into work everyday.</p><p>He didn't say anything in response to that, able to detect the small hint of irritation. "It'll be just a few minutes." Charlie assured her, giving her a slight smile.</p><p>Nicole nodded, a frown on her lips for just a second, before she looked back at you. "Thanks for watching Henry. I'm sorry you're stuck here." She said, eyes darting to Charlie with an apologetic glance, assuming that you were dreading to spend time alone with your boss. She had no idea that you were so thrilled about it.</p><p>"It's no problem." You assured her easily.</p><p>    After Nicole walked into her bedroom and you heard the door shut behind her, you made your way over to the couch that Charlie was sitting on, face heating up at the realization that the two of you were alone and from the way that he was grinning at you.</p><p>    You cautiously sat next to him on the couch, crossing your legs over the other and putting your hands in your lap, nervous to be too close to him.</p><p>    Charlie couldn't take his eyes off of you, gaze going up and down the side of your body, taking in the way that you looked sitting on his couch. "You're a pretty good liar." He said to you in a soft voice, "I don't know if I should be thankful or afraid of you." He added with a smirk. His arm absentmindedly went to the back of the couch, brushing against your shoulders as he did so.</p><p>    You let out a nervous chuckle, keeping your eyes down at your hands, picking at a bit of nail polish to distract yourself. "I wouldn't lie to <em>you</em>." You assured him ironically being honest about that. When you looked over at him, your heart sped up at the way that he was intently looking at you already.</p><p>    Charlie was still so surprised at how earnest you were with him, it was what made him assume you were innocent before, your responses were always so pure. He didn't know how to respond to you so instead he looked away and  flipped through channels on the television, hoping that Nicole didn't come out and see that he wasn't actually showing you a scene from a movie.</p><p>    "I couldn't stop thinking about you tonight." Charlie decided to say quietly, keeping his attention on the screen in front of him as he did so. "I kept thinking about how you were here and I just wanted to get back home to you."</p><p>    Now it was your turn to stare at him, at how gorgeous his side profile looked as he concentrated ahead, trying his best not to look over at you because he knew he'd have to kiss you if he did.</p><p>    "I kept thinking about you too." You admitted in a hushed voice. You remembered the emotions you'd been feeling while he'd been at the play and you couldn't help but laugh a little.</p><p>    "Why are you laughing?" He asked you, unable to stop the smle that grew on his face as he heard it. God, he loved your laugh.</p><p>    "I kept wondering if you were having a good time." You explained, moving in closer so that you could talk to him and know that no one else was able to hear, "I was getting jealous at the idea that you were enjoying your time with your wife." You said, laughing a little again at how ridiculous it sounded.</p><p>    Charlie's smile faded at that, it was forcing him to question himself. Did he have a good time with Nicole? On paper, he should've. They went to see a play that a former co-worker was acting in, someone they both considered a close friend. It should've been the perfect night. But it wasn't, it was so lifeless and forced. "I had a shitty time." He confessed, finally looking over at you.</p><p>    "I'm sorry." You said, feeling guilty for even bringing that up.</p><p>    "Don't be." Charlie corrected you, shaking his head.</p><p>    You two were close now, your hand moved from your lap to the couch, pinky brushing against the side of his thigh as you did so, putting some of your weight there so that you could lean in closer to him.    </p><p>    "God,"  Charlie sighed, eyebrows knitting together in torment, "You're so pretty."</p><p>    You bit your lip, feeling a wave of bashfulness rush over you at his compliment.</p><p>    Charlie was so caught up in you, at the way you were looking up at him and the way your lips looked. His stomach twisted, he felt so bad. He was under the same roof as his wife and his son and he was about to throw it all away just to kiss you. What was wrong with him, he thought.</p><p>    "I should go to bed." He told you, shifting so that he was farther away from you, rising up from the couch after doing so. Charlie kept his eyes away, "Like Nicole said, stay here for as long as you want.  Send me a text when you go so I can lock the door if I'm awake." He said simply before rushing towards his room, leaving you staring after him in a crestfallen way.</p><p>    You felt so stupid and guilty as you watched his bedroom door shut behind him.  What were you thinking? </p><p>A  few minutes passed and you spent them trying to hold back your embarrassed tears as you checked the weather on your phone. You just wanted to get the hell out of there but it looked like the worst part of the storm was yet to come and the warning was set to keep going for a few hours from now.</p><p>    Just to make sure, being willing to risk it,  you opened up the Uber app. There were little to no cars available,  you'd never really seen that before in such a big city.</p><p>    "Fuck." You muttered, quickly wiping at your eyes. You were cursing yourself for almost kissing Charlie in his own home and for letting yourself believe that it was something that he wanted too.</p><p>    When you heard his door open again, you ducked your head down, not wanting him to see you were upset as you zoomed in what the radar looked like on your phone.</p><p>    Charlie could see that you were upset but he tried not to acknowledge it, not wanting to embarrass you. "It looks like it's going to be awhile. Me and Nicole thought you might want to stay the night." He said to you, his voice gentle.</p><p>    You didn't look up at him, thinking about what he was saying. You shrugged in response.</p><p>    "Here," Charlie set something down on the table in front of you, "Goodnight." He added, saying your name as he did so before he made his way back to his room.</p><p>    When you were sure that he was gone, you looked at what he'd given you. A pillow, blanket, and some clothes. You grabbed them and realized quickly that they were Charlie's pajamas, a t-shirt and pair of soft pants.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>    It was almost an hour later and you were laying on the couch, curled up on top of it with your stomach in knots. You had the television on and the rest of the living room lights off, while you scrolled through your phone, trying to take your mind off of the fact that  the storm was so loud and Charlie was in bed with his wife not too far away from you.</p><p>    You weren't planning on staying the night, feeling too awkward to do so, but that didn't stop you from taking the opportunity to wear Charlie's clothes. You had to admit, his pajamas were comfortable and they smelled like him.</p><p>    In his bedroom, Charlie couldn't sleep, not even close.</p><p>    Nicole had passed out almost instantly when he came back in after giving you what you needed to spend the night. She was such a heavy sleeper, she didn't realize that Charlie had just been tossing and turning for the past hour.</p><p>    His mind was racing and his heart wouldn't slow down. He couldn't stop thinking about the fact that  you were in his apartment, on his couch, and he had almost kissed you. He wanted you so badly and he was so conflicted over it.</p><p>    Being as quiet as possible, Charlie stood up from bed and made his way out to the hallway, wanting to see what you were up to.</p><p>    Because of the way that you were laying on the couch, he was able to see your face on the end of the couch that was visible from the hallway. He paused, seeing that you were still awake, the light from the tv screen over your face.</p><p>    You glanced over at him, quickly averting your eyes when you saw that he was looking at you too. You assumed that he was just going to the bathroom, so when you noticed him making his way over to you out of the corner of your eye, you felt yourself get anxious.</p><p>    "You're awake." He said to you softly, staring down at you from his standing position over the couch.</p><p>    You tightened the blanket around you, looking up at him. "I couldn't sleep." You admitted.</p><p>    Charlie frowned, "Me neither." He admitted.</p><p>"Can I join you?" He asked, nodding towards the end of the couch where your feet were.</p><p>    You hesitated. You knew it was a bad idea, there was no good that could come out of the two of you sitting together in the dark. But you were thrilled at the idea that he wanted to spend time with you, that he couldn't sleep and he wanted to come see you.  "Okay." You decided, keeping the blanket close to you as you moved to a seating position.</p><p>    Charlie took a seat in the open spot, letting out a long sigh as he did so.</p><p>    You two were silent, pretending to watch the show that was on instead of acknowledging each other, as if the thought of being alone didn't make two of you crazy.</p><p>    A bright flash of lightning went through the apartment and you jumped in response, covering up your quiet yelp with a cough.</p><p>    Charlie glanced over at you, "Are you okay?" He asked, feeling that same annoying urge to take care of you that he always did.</p><p>    "I'm fine." You told him.</p><p>    As the loud crack of thunder boomed, though, Charlie noticed the way that you tensed up and your eyes widened in front of you. You were afraid. "Hey, you're safe here, okay?" He assured you, reaching out so that he could place a gentle hand on your leg under the blankets next to him.</p><p>    You looked over at him, eyes big and eyebrows furrowed. You noted the way that you did feel so much safer just having him near you. "I know. I'm just used to the storms back home." You told him, trying not to envision the destruction that took place after severe storms in the Midwest.</p><p>    Charlie's hand briefly squeezed you from over the blanket, on your calf. "I get it." He told you, understanding what you meant, he remembered that from growing up in Indiana.</p><p>    There was another flash and roll of thunder and you couldn't help but sigh in frustration, you just wanted it to be over.</p><p>    "Come here." Charlie told you in a quiet voice, eyes serious as they stared at you. He hated seeing you worked up. He didn't care how wrong this was, he wanted to comfort you.</p><p>    You thought it over, pulse quickening as you slowly made your way over to him on the couch. You weren't exactly sure what to do so you were thankful when he wrapped his arm around your shoulders and pulled you in against him.</p><p>    As much as you wanted to fight this off, you realized how much better you felt as you wrapped your arms around his waist and relaxed with your head on his chest. You could feel his heartbeat, it was going as fast as yours was.</p><p>    "You're okay." Charlie hummed, hand rubbing your back in a soothing way, "I've got you, honey." He added, nose brushing against the top of your head, wanting to kiss you there but holding himself back, it would be too much.</p><p>    Your hands gripped at his shirt under your touch, inhaling at the way you were able to feel the smoothness of his muscles underneath the material. His shirt was soft and thin and it almost felt like you were touching his skin. You didn't want this to end.</p><p>    You two stayed in that position for a few moments, both yearning over each other in a tense silence, wondering if someone was going to make another move, wondering if it was okay to make a move.</p><p>    You slowly moved your head so that you were looking up at him. In the position that you were in, you were already so close to him. Your hand went from his side to slowly rest against his chest.</p><p>    Charlie's hand moved at a slow pace, going from the soothing motion on your back to trail along your shoulder blades before it settled on the back of your head, his fingers tangling into your hair, holding you in place looking up at him the way that you were.</p><p>    He brought his fingers up to your lips, tracing over them in the way he had when the two of you had been in your kitchen. He swallowed hard, remembering how it looked when you brought his thumb into your mouth.</p><p>    "Charlie..." You breathed out, remembering how he walked away earlier. What was different now?  You couldn't get your hopes up that he was going to kiss you if he backed out at the last minute.</p><p>    "I don't care anymore." He muttered, answering the thoughts you were having, "I want you so <em>fucking</em> bad." Charlie whispered, fingers absentmindedly tugging at your hair at the confession, teeth gritting as he thought about how many times he's had to hold himself back from doing this with you.  "Do you want me?" He asked you.</p><p>    You nodded quickly. You also didn't care about anything else, you were hanging on his every word and action, "I want you." You repeated, assuring him. You were so nervous that your voice was shaking.</p><p>    Charlie let out a soft groan to hear you say that before he started leaning down, getting closer and closer to you. He'd thought about this for so long and now you were here in his arms and you <em>wanted</em> him.</p><p>    You gripped the material of his shirt in your hands as if to pull  him down closer to you, <em>needing</em> this.</p><p>    Charlie's lips pressed against yours, the both of you freezing at the contact and at how perfect it felt. He wasn't sure if he'd ever been this worked up from just a kiss before but he'd been waiting so long to experience it.</p><p>    You let out a quiet moan, practically melting against him, you felt so safe and small in his arms.</p><p>    After the initial shock of kissing each other wore off, you two became hungry for each other, lips moving at a desperate pace, tongues clashing together. You were both breathing heavy, stifling sounds of pleasure. If there had been tension before due to <em>not</em> kissing, now that the two of you finally were, the tension was only rising, needing more of each other.</p><p>    Charlie felt like a teenager again, being pleased just to kiss you for hours and hours.</p><p>    You were both a mess, pressed against each other and grabbing and sighing.</p><p>    Charlie's hand went to your waist, moving lower so that he could grip your hip in his large hand. When his fingers brushed against bare skin, he froze at the contact. He parted from you just slightly, eyebrows up in confusion. "Are you wearing pants?" He asked you, already knowing the answer but needing confirmation. This all seemed so unreal.</p><p>    Your eyes were wide with embarrassment. When you  changed into his pajamas, the pants had been too long and you kept tripping over them. In frustration you'd taken them off and put the blanket over your legs, assuming that you'd be able to put them back on if you needed to get off of the couch. His shirt was so long on you that you hadn't even thought about it until now, feeling his skin against yours.</p><p>    "No." You admitted, blinking, giggling nervously.</p><p>    Charlie slowly moved the blanket off of you, eyes adjusting in the dark room so that he was able to see you. You were in his t-shirt and your pair of knee high socks. And that was it.</p><p>    "Oh my god." He mumbled to himself, hand running over your bare thigh as he did so. The coldness of his wedding ring against you made you shiver. "These fucking legs..." He said, still talking to himself as he looked you over. Something about seeing you in <em>his</em> shirt turned him on, like you belonged to him.</p><p>    Suddenly, Charlie was grabbing you and pulling you over to him, positioning you on his lap with your back against his chest. Your legs were on either side of his, spread apart and you could feel his erection against your ass, pressing against you.</p><p>    "You're a bad girl." He whispered in your ear, hands on your bare thighs, squeezing you. "You were just going to lay on my couch in your panties all night?" He teased you, lips brushing against your ear.</p><p>    Your hands went on top of his, arching your back up against him. This was so risky, you were out in the open, if Nicole left her room  and went down the hallway, she'd see everything. It was fucked up but it was a rush, you were so turned on that it was somehow adding to the experience instead of making you not want it.</p><p>    Nicole never let Charlie talk to her like this or let him touch her like this. Maybe in the beginning of their relationship but it had been such a long time, probably since Henry was born. Sex with him was like a job for her, it felt so good to be able to have fun with it again.</p><p>    "Charlie, we can't." You breathed out, eyes darting to the hallway entrance, nervous that someone was going to walk out of it.</p><p>    "We <em>can</em>." He purred in your ear, "Just watch tv and be quiet for me, baby." Charlie then lifted up the hem of your shirt, pulling it up over your hips. He parted his legs which in turn made you spread your legs more, still on either side of his. "We aren't doing anything wrong, are we? We're just watching this show and taking our mind off of the storm."</p><p>    You felt like you were in a dream, this was all too good to be true.        </p><p>    Charlie's chin was on your shoulder as one of his hands wandered in between your legs, touching you softly through the material of your lace underwear. "How does this feel? Does this feel good?" He cooed in your ear, somehow instantly knowing just where to touch you.</p><p>    You bit your lip to keep from moaning out loud, hands going to his thighs where you squeezed him, trying to keep yourself quiet. "Fuck, that feels so good." You confessed in a low voice.</p><p>    Charlie groaned at your reaction, feeling validated by your response. "I can tell it does, I can feel how wet you are through your cute little panties." He hummed, growing harder just from saying that out loud to you. Then, knowing that he couldn't waste too much time, he slowly let his fingers creep inside the material, hissing when he came in contact with your wetness.</p><p>    "Oh god." You mumbled, glancing down so that you were able to see the way his fingers looked inside your underwear, running along your folds. He easily found your clit, it took him no time to locate it and you felt his middle finger begin to rub against it in slow circles.</p><p>    "I can make you feel really good, baby, but you have to be quiet. Can you do that for me?" Charlie asked, lips against your neck in between words. He loved this so much. He couldn't remember the last time he'd touched someone like this and had them respond so well to him, it was a confidence boost that he needed so badly.</p><p>    You nodded, "Yes." You said quickly, wanting to say anything and everything that you could to make sure he didn't stop.</p><p>    Charlie growled under his breath as he began moving his fingers at a quicker pace, noticing the way that your legs were shaking as he did so. You were so sexy, he couldn't believe that he had you on his lap like this. "Look at that, you <em>can</em> be a good girl when you want to be." He taunted you, his free hand going to your hip to hold you in place while his other hand expertly worked you.</p><p>Everything about this was so hot, you were shocked that you were feeling so close to your climax already. Just the thought of Charlie talking to you like this when his wife was down the hall was enough to make your head swim.</p><p>"You're so wet." He sighed in pleasure, more just to himself instead of trying to tease you. "I just know you have the tightest, prettiest pussy, don't you?" He asked you lowly, breath hitching at the thought of how it would feel to be inside of you.</p><p>Your hips twitched as he said this, the sound of him saying something so filthy was too much for you. "You're gonna make me cum already, Charlie." You said in a helpless voice, grasping at his thighs.</p><p>"You know what I want you to call me." He whispered, "Tell me please."</p><p>You could feel the familiar warmness spread inside your lower stomach, your muscles starting to tighten up. "Please, Mr. Barber, <em>please</em>." You gasped, fingernails against the material of his pants. </p><p>Charlie's hand gripped your hip, moaning at the sound of you saying it. He wanted to fuck you so bad but there wasn't enough time, it was way too dangerous. But he wanted to make you cum, he needed to see your body react to him like this.</p><p>"Good girl, you can cum for me." Charlie cooed, nose against your ear as he looked down your body, watching the way that you were tensing and trembling all because of the way he was touching you. His hand on your hip went to your mouth, covering it so that you didn't make any noise.</p><p>Hearing him give you permission and feeling the way that he was muffling your sounds with his hand, made your toes curl up, the flood of your orgasm hitting you, washing all your body as you moved your hips against his finger, riding it out as long as possible.</p><p>Charlie couldn't stop the way that he was smiling so big, watching you come undone because of him. When he knew that you were finished, he slowly moved his hand away from your face and out of your underwear.</p><p>You couldn't think, your brain and your body felt like jelly, that had been so intense  and you hadn't been expecting it. Your boss just made you cum in the middle of his living room.</p><p>He helped you move off of his lap, laying you down on the couch in a comfortable position. He grabbed for the blanket and placed it back over you, as if he were tucking you in. Charlie still had a grin on his face as he did so, leaning down so that his face was hovering over yours.</p><p>"You're so beautiful." He kissed you softly, "Thank you for letting me touch you, I loved it." He assured you. Charlie knew what you might be thinking, he was a dirty old man and he was using his position of power over you. But that wasn't the case. He didn't need you to touch <em>him</em>, he had just wanted you to feel good.</p><p>You could barely even comprehend what he was saying to you but what you were able to process made you happy, made you feel like you were dreaming again. "That was my first time." You admitted to him.</p><p>"What?" Charlie asked you quickly, suddenly feeling a weight of guilt on his chest.</p><p>"That was the first time someone else has even given me an orgasm." You said, feeling a little vulnerable confessing something personal.</p><p>"Really?" Charlie asked, head spinning.</p><p>You sighed and nodded, "I do it to myself all the time," Your skin heated up at the bluntness of that and you kept talking to stop the shame that you wanted to feel, "But no one's ever taken the time to make me cum before."</p><p>Charlie was very surprised. You were an angel, why wouldn't the people you've been with before want to touch you all the time? He felt a swell of accomplishment, he was the <em>first one. </em>"Well, I'm glad I could give that to you." He said simply, not wanting to say too much and scare you off.</p><p>He glanced at the clock, seeing how late it was getting. "I should go back, though." He said, his tone disappointed. Charlie wanted to touch you all night, he wanted you to touch him. But that was already so risky, there was no way the two of you could do anything more than that without the fear of getting caught.</p><p>You nodded, agreeing with him. You were starting to get paranoid, wondering if you'd been too loud at times, what if Nicole heard but was just waiting in there for him to come back? Your mind was in a million scary places.</p><p>Charlie went to move away from you but kissed you one more time instead, lips lingering, wanting more. "Goodnight, baby." He told you, pulling away and giving you one last look before he made his way down the hall to his room.</p><p>When he got into the bedroom, Nicole was still sleeping soundly, snoring a bit. She had no idea what just happened in the next room.</p><p>Charlie crawled into bed, grinning to himself.</p><p>Out in the living room, your expression matched his, the two of you unknowingly laying in the same position, the same looks on your face.<br/><br/><br/></p><p>It wasn't storming anymore.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Temporary</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If you would've attempted to predict how your Saturday night was going to go, having a sleepover at Charlie Barber's apartment was not it.</p><p>You also wouldn't have predicted that Charlie was going to be the first man to ever give you an orgasm, on his couch, while his wife was in the next room.</p><p>But, shit happens, ya know?<br/><br/><br/></p><p>The idea of waking up in the morning and having to face Nicole and Henry had been too much for you. So, the moment that the severe storm warning had been lifted, you decided to get the hell out of the apartment, preferring to sleep in your own bed than on the couch where you had just done terrible things with Charlie.</p><p>You sent him a quick text, letting him know that you were heading out. You assumed he was already asleep because it was late and he didn't come out to lock the door behind you (or say goodbye). You made sure to fold up the blankets you'd been using, stacking them with the pillow. You folded Charlie's sweatpants he'd given you as well. But, you couldn't help yourself from keeping his shirt on, taking it home with you.</p><p>As you made your way home, you knew you probably looked like you were on a walk of shame and in a way, you supposed you were. When you got on the subway, you were in your little skirt, socks, and a men's t-shirt. As exposed as you felt, no one around you gave a shit. It was New York and that was by far the least interesting thing going on during that ride.</p><p>You spent the majority of your Sunday replaying the events of the night before over and over in your brain, it didn't seem real.</p><p>You couldn't stop thinking about the way it felt to finally kiss Charlie, the way his hands were all over your body, over your mouth and gripping your hips. It was like he knew just how to touch you, he made you cum so quickly, you hadn't been expecting that at all.</p><p>As good as he made you feel sexually, you also couldn't stop thinking about how safe you felt with him. It was ironic because of how dangerous the situation had been, you could've easily gotten caught. But hearing him call you 'honey' and 'baby' and feeling so small in his arms, made your head spin. As dominating as he'd been, he'd also been so gentle and thoughtful, he even fucking <em>thanked you</em> afterwards.</p><p>When you talked to your sister on the phone, as you usually did every Sunday, it had been so hard not to spill everything to tell her and tell her what happened. You knew she'd just try to talk you out of it and make you feel guilty for even wanting it in the first place. But she'd been easily able to pick up on your giddy mood:</p><p>
  <em>"You seem...energetic." Erin had said, suspicious.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I got some exercise yesterday." You lied...kind of.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Erin hadn't been convinced but she dropped it, instead moving on to say, "You aren't still thinking about your boss, are you?"</em>
</p><p>In reality, Charlie was all that you could think about. You knew you should hate how consumed you already were by him. You should be cautious because he was married and your boss and you barely knew him. But you couldn't help it, he made you so excited and you loved the feeling.<br/><br/><br/></p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately for him, Charlie was in the same boat as you. When he woke up the next morning, a part of him had been disappointed that you weren't still sleeping on his couch. As strange as it would've been, he had been looking forward to bringing you a cup of coffee and maybe some breakfast. But it was unrealistic, it was for the best that you snuck out when you had.</p><p>He couldn't believe what the two of you had done but really, he knew it would just be a matter of time. Charlie wanted you so badly and when he realized that you wanted him too, it was almost impossible to ignore the fact that you'd been laying by yourself in the next room.</p><p>As Monday morning arrived, he realized how much more energy he had while he got ready for work, even getting up early enough to make Henry food <em>and</em> clean up after himself. In the back of his mind, he knew why it was: he couldn't stop thinking about you and it made him feel young again. His heart raced each time he thought about your hips moving against his lap and the way your small moans sounded so perfect to him.</p><p>Even though the way he felt about you and the things you two have done with each other was so wrong, he found himself so excited to see you at work. Charlie was so caught up in you that he was ignoring all the morals he knew he had deep down. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>You were one of the first people to show up to work and of course, Charlie was already there. He was standing by a folding table, various scripts stacked on top of it as well as several to-go cups of coffee.</p><p>"Hi." You said cautiously as you made your way over to him. A part of you was nervous that he was going to pretend it didn't happen. After you and him shared a moment in your kitchen, when he had you pressed against your apartment's sink, Charlie had given you the cold shoulder at work the next day and sent you to work with Marianne. You hadn't spoken to him since Saturday night and now that he was in front of you, in his work clothes and surrounded by everyone, you were scared that he'd react the same way.</p><p>But then Charlie looked down at you, a slow grin spreading over his face, and the nerves dissipated inside of you. "Hi." He mirrored your greeting, unable to stop the way that his mood lifted just to be around you. "I brought coffee, if you want some." He told you, motioning towards the cups that were on the table, enough for everyone.</p><p>"For me?" You asked, raising an eyebrow, half joking with him but also half serious, regardless of what you did together, you were just an intern.</p><p>"<em>Especially</em> for you." Charlie replied in a low voice, picking up one of the cups and handing it to you, locking eyes with you as he did so.</p><p>You couldn't stop the nervous giggle that left you as you took the coffee from him, feeling flustered by the amount of attention he was giving you. You couldn't stop your mind from racing with thoughts of his hand inside of your panties as your fingers brushed against his skin.</p><p>Charlie watched the way you became timid, looking down at your feet as you accepted the cup from his hands. His stomach flipped, struck with the remembrance of how cute you were and how difficult it was going to be to act like your <em>boss</em>.</p><p>"Oh, I brought you some lunch too." He added, his smile widening at the way your head perked back up, staring up at him with wide eyes. <em>Fuck, </em>he wanted you.</p><p>"You don't have to do that." You said to him quickly but in all honesty, you were thankful. Not only did it make you happy that Charlie was thinking about you and cared enough about your wellbeing to make sure you were eating a decent lunch. But you also just enjoyed his food, it was better than whatever you could do yourself, especially considering you barely even had a kitchen.</p><p>"I know I don't." Charlie told you, nodding to a few more people who were making their way into the room, motioning to the coffee in front of them so they knew that they could take one. "But I like doing it." He assured you, keeping this conversation as casual as possible so that it didn't seem suspicious to those around you.</p><p>You bit your lip, grinning, "Well, thank you. I really appreciate it." You told him genuinely. As more people huddled around the table, you moved out of the way, not wanting to block them from anything and, also because you were getting all worked up at how sweet Charlie was to you and it was becoming harder to hide it.</p><p>Charlie glanced over at you, watching the way that you were starting to get settled, placing your bag down and getting a few things out of it. He wished you would've stayed by his side and he started internally cursing himself for being so obsessed with you already. He couldn't help himself, you were the first person to occupy his thoughts and make his heart race in years. It wasn't smart but it was addicting. <br/><br/><br/></p><p>As the morning went on, you did just as Charlie had wished for earlier: you stayed by his side.</p><p>You held the script in your hands as you sat beside him, marking down the things that he whispered to you and keeping the place of the next line in case one of the actors called 'line.'</p><p>You knew you should've been paying close attention to the rehearsal itself and to what exactly you were writing down for Charlie. But you found yourself paying closer attention to the man himself, at the concentrated way he watched with his hand on his chin, the way he'd purse his lips in thought, the way he'd lean down close to you so that he could speak quietly enough for only you to hear, the way his hand would linger on your arm as he gave you instructions...</p><p>Charlie realized about halfway through the morning how capable you were. Usually with his interns, he just let them work there to give them some experience and for them to see the daily duties of a director. He usually had them do busy work, to make them feel like they were actually accomplishing something. Mostly, interns were more work for him than they were worth. But you were keeping up with him so well and at times, he barely even needed to say a full sentence before you were already jotting down what he wanted, like you could read his mind. It was so helpful.</p><p>During lunch, Charlie discreetly set the bag of food he packed you, down by your purse, not wanting to embarrass you by handing you the food in front of everyone. He also let everyone around him know that he needed to make a few important phone calls so he was going to step out and he'd be back in a bit.</p><p>You couldn't stop smiling as you unpacked what he had put together for you. You tried to imagine him making it for you, probably glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Nicole didn't see him and question what he was doing. It was a sandwich and a little bag of chips (they probably had a pack of them for Henry's lunches). It was so sweet.</p><p>You sat at the folding table, eating your food and writing in your notebook with headphones in your ears. Everyone sort of did their own thing during lunch time, most people left and came back, while others (like you) just hung around the rehearsal space and took a break.</p><p>Charlie had returned a few minutes later, going over a particular scene with one of the actors. He kept glancing over at you as he did so, wondering what you were up to and if you liked what he brought you.</p><p>At one point, while he'd been looking over at you, you shifted in your seat and it caught his interest. You weren't doing anything blatantly sexual but the way that you reached your arms over your head and arched your back, straightening your legs and tilting your head back in a stretch, made his heart speed up. It caused your skirt to ride up just slightly, along with the bottom of your shirt. He could almost imagine that you'd look the same way if he were on top of you, kissing your exposed neck, pressing you against his couch...</p><p>His dirty thoughts were interrupted by the sound of laughter to his side. Kyle and one of the other actors, Matt were nudging each other and talking, motioning in your direction.</p><p>"Do you think she even knows how hot she is?" Matt asked Kyle, both of them looking you up and down as you settled back into your original seating position.</p><p>You were absentmindedly twirling your hair and running the cap of your pen along your lower lip in thought as you stared down at your notebook. You were oblivious of the fact that anyone was even looking at you, let alone talking about you.</p><p>Charlie frowned at his comment, not enjoying the jealous feeling inside of him. It didn't feel good to hear men who were handsome and closer to your age, talk about you in that way. It made him insecure which wasn't a feeling he was used to.</p><p>"Nah," Kyle chuckled, thinking about it as he continued to hungrily look you over, "Girls like her never know it." He decided, a sick satisfied look in his eyes as he thought about it.</p><p>"What do you mean, 'girls like her'?" Matt asked, interested.</p><p>After a few moments of thinking about how he wanted to word it, Kyle grinned, "<em>Virgins</em>."</p><p>Hearing that, Charlie abruptly got up from his seat, telling the actor he'd been previously talking to that they'd finish later. He made his way to Kyle, irritated. It had been one thing to call you attractive but speculating about your sex life was too much for him. It was gross and he knew you'd be uncomfortable if you heard it.</p><p>"I hope you're memorizing those lines you forgot earlier." Charlie said to Kyle, pointing to the unopened script in his lap.</p><p>Seeing Charlie in front of him, with the angry look on his face, made Kyle scramble to grab at the script. "Oh, shit, yeah. I was just taking a break." He said with a sheepish look on his face.</p><p>Charlie stared at him for a few moments, jaw tense, hands on his hips. He wanted to tell him off for talking about you in the way that he had. But it wasn't his place. He was just your boss, in everyone else's eyes, it would be strange for him to be so upset about hearing that. He made a small noise of 'hm', "Good because if not, I'm sure I could find a replacement who's more prepared."</p><p>With that, Charlie turned on his heel, removing himself from the situation before he said something he'd regret.</p><p>Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the way that Charlie was making his way over to you and it caused you to straighten up in your seat, shutting your notebook out of some sense of embarrassment.</p><p>Being close to you and far from Kyle made Charlie soften, his jealousy washing away. "What are you working on?" He asked you, glancing down towards your now closed notebook.</p><p>You took the headphones out of your ears, shrugging, "Oh, it's nothing."</p><p>He narrowed his eyes, a faint smile on his face, "Is it a diary?" He asked you, almost teasing you. He glanced at the clock and saw there was still some time so he grabbed a nearby seat and brought it up across from you at the table.</p><p>"No." You grinned, growing a little anxious (in the best way) at the fact that Charlie was joining you.</p><p>Charlie was looking at you in an amused and expectant way, wanting you to answer his original question of what you were working on.</p><p>You bit your lip, tapping your pen against the table as you thought about how you wanted to say it. "I've just been taking my own notes, I guess...Like about rehearsal and things you've been doing."</p><p>Charlie's hand went to the top of the notebook, raising an eyebrow. "Can I see?" He asked you, curious, "It's okay if you don't want me to look." The thought of you being so excited about this internship that you were taking notes made him happy, you were adorable.</p><p>You thought it over and eventually nodded, pushing the notebook in his direction, fingers brushing against his.</p><p>He kept eye contact with you as he picked it up, flipping open to the first page. He only broke his gaze from you to look down at the pages in his hands.</p><p>You were nervous, wondering if he was going to judge you or think that what you'd written was stupid.</p><p>Charlie scanned the pages, taking in the things you wrote and the way your handwriting looked. He noticed that you had specific notes about particular lines or scenes, things like 'pacing is uneven' or 'too much crying?' (which made him chuckle). You also wrote things about what Charlie did throughout the day, things you noticed that were helpful to do as a director.</p><p>He was hit again with the realization of your ability. He agreed with almost all of your notes, you even pointed things out that he hadn't noticed himself. The fact that you were taking it upon yourself to write it all down was admirable to him as well.</p><p>"I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd ever read it." You said, noticing that he was at the end of your written pages. You didn't want him to think that you thought you knew better than him. It wasn't the case, you just had to get your thoughts out somehow and found it easiest to just jot them down on breaks.</p><p>He handed it back to you, shaking his head, "Don't apologize. You should tell me these things." Charlie said, "You have a really good eye for it." He complimented you and you could tell that he was being sincere.</p><p>"Really?" You asked, surprised.</p><p>Charlie thought about it, slowly nodding his head. He reached for one of the pens that you had sitting on the table, all in various colors. He picked up a purple one, "You can write down any thoughts you have on my script in this, so I can look it over later." He said.</p><p>He'd never given an intern, or really anyone, the freedom to mark their own ideas on his personal documents. But the idea of going back and reading your thought process, along with his, excited him. Charlie had you jot things down for him in a red pen, seeing your purple one would let him know it came from you and not him.</p><p>Your heart sped up at his words, knowing that it was actually a big deal for him to let you do that. "Are you sure?" You asked, smiling big, as you took the pen from his hands.</p><p>"I'm sure." Charlie assured you, glancing back over at the clock on the wall, he scooted the chair out, standing up and sent you a discreet wink. He then turned and got everyone's attention, telling them they had a minute to start getting their stuff together.</p><p>You spun the pen around in your fingers, unable to stop the giant grin from spreading on your lips as you watched him. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>Throughout the rest of the day, you'd been a little too nervous to write down exactly everything that you were thinking, but it still felt so good to feel like Charlie was interested in what you had to say.</p><p>After rehearsal was over, Charlie asked if you'd help him with a few things in his office. Of course, you agreed. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>"I just need you to print out enough copies of this scene for everyone, and could you staple them together too?" Charlie was standing behind you while you sat at a desk with a laptop in front of you. He had his hand on the back of your seat and he was leaning in over your shoulder to point at the attachment on the computer's desktop. It was so hard to be close to him like this, even so casually.</p><p>He shared an office with various people who worked in the building and unfortunately, the two of you were currently in the company of a man who was on the phone at his own desk. You just wanted to be alone, even if the two of you didn't do anything, it was so much more comfortable when you didn't have to pretend.</p><p>"Sure, no problem," You told him then glanced up at him, "Mr. Barber." You added with a mischievous smirk on your face. You couldn't help yourself.</p><p>Charlie tensed up as he met your eyes, the same look of mischief in them. He brought a hand up to your shoulder, squeezing you there before moving away from you. "Let me know when you're finished." He said to you in a business-like tone. God, you were trouble.</p><p>Over the next several minutes, you completed his mindless task of printing out enough copies for everyone and separating the pages by the correct placement of staples. The entire time, you felt Charlie's eyes on you, watching you. As you were finishing up, you noticed the man who'd been sitting in the office with you, starting to get his things together to leave.</p><p>"Have a good night, Charlie." He told him, sending him a short wave as he walked out of the door.</p><p>"Yeah, you too." Charlie called out to him.</p><p>Out of the corner of your eye, you watched the way that Charlie began to get out of his chair and make his way towards you. Feeling shy, you pretended not to notice, clicking a staple into place.</p><p>Suddenly, he was behind you with his large hands on your shoulders. You froze, stopping your motions of straightening out one of the scripts, his touch sending a shiver down your spine, eyes straight ahead.</p><p>"Are you done?" He asked you, his voice sounding so loud in the silent room even though in reality, it wasn't.</p><p>You almost dropped the papers in your hands but you straightened them out, "Almost." You told him, hand moving towards the stapler.</p><p>"Good. Keep working." Charlie instructed you, his tone firm.</p><p>You faltered for a moment but then did as he said, picking the stapler up. You inhaled sharply when you felt one of his hands that was on your shoulder begin to move towards your neck, his touch soft and warm.</p><p>As his hand carefully wrapped around the side of your throat, you paused what you were doing, shutting your eyes in pleasure at the feeling of it.</p><p>"I didn't tell you to stop." Charlie drawled out, his fingers pressing in just slightly.</p><p>You pressed your thighs together, trying to get a hold of yourself as you shakily pressed the staple down onto the papers, adding it to the finished stack of scripts.</p><p>"Good girl." He murmured, a grin on his face, watching the way that you were obeying him and being so affected by his touch.</p><p>You audibly sighed at that, dropping the stapler down onto the table. "I'm done, that was the last one." You told him, your tone almost desperate. You couldn't focus on work even if you tried with the way that his hand was gripping your neck and the way that he was speaking to you.</p><p>Charlie made a humming noise above you. He kept his hand on your throat as he leaned forward, his chest pressed against your back. He used his free hand to flip through the scripts, counting them under his breath, making sure you finished the task correctly.</p><p>You watched his hand in front of you, your own hands folded on your lap so that you could nervously play with your fingers.</p><p>He straightened back up and released his touch on your neck. "Come here." Charlie said to you in a low voice.</p><p>You weren't sure what he meant at first, you were already here in front of him. But then you got it and you slowly stood up, smoothing down your clothes as you turned so that you were able to face him.</p><p>Although he'd been acting aloof and demanding while he told you to finish your job, now that you were staring up at him, you could see a smile spread onto Charlie's face, unable to stop himself from softening at the sight of you.</p><p>He grabbed the chair that was separating the two of you and quickly scooted it away, ignoring the way it hit against the wall. Then, automatically, Charlie had you pressed against the desk behind you, his hand on the side of your face and the other on your hip as he kissed you hard.</p><p>You were taken back at first, hands gripping the edge of the desk and muscles tense. But as Charlie's hand snuck up to your waist, pulling himself in closer against you, you sighed against him and began kissing him back, relaxing.</p><p>Charlie groaned, feeling the way that you were eagerly kissing him back and he put a hand under your thigh, picking you up so that he could place you onto the desk behind you, moving in between your parted thighs.</p><p>You wrapped your leg around his waist, bringing him in closer to you and put your arms around his neck. This was all so fucked up, kissing him at work, but you couldn't find the strength to push him away, you wanted this too much.</p><p>Charlie's mouth parted from yours just slightly, "I've been wanting to do this all day." He breathed, kissing you again for a moment, "I couldn't wait to get you alone." He admitted, moving a hand from your waist to the back of your head, holding you in place as he pressed his lips against yours feverishly.</p><p>You were subconsciously moving your hips against his, leaning back on the desk so he was almost laying down on top of you, bent over. "Is this a good idea?" You asked him, glancing quickly over your shoulder at the door to the office.</p><p>Charlie's lips moved from yours, down to your neck, keeping his hand on the back of your head and neck and the other on your hip. "Probably not." He said, chuckling a little at how stupid it all was. "Do you want me to stop?" He asked you. He'd never done something like this. Hell, he'd never even done anything questionable while he was at work before. But he couldn't help himself around you, you were his weakness.</p><p>You quickly shook your head, running a hand through his soft hair. "Don't stop. Please." You said to him, eyebrow furrowing at the way his lips felt against your collarbone, his nose brushing against the crook of your neck.</p><p>Charlie moaned as he heard that, squeezing your hip. "Everyone's gone. It's just us, babygirl, me and you. We're all alone." His hand moved up the bottom of your shirt and you shuddered at the feeling of his skin against your ribcage.</p><p>You let out a quiet moan, tugging on his hair so that he'd lift his head up and you were able to kiss him again.</p><p>"You want me to make you feel good again, baby?" He asked you in a low voice. He couldn't stop thinking about the way he made you cum on his lap, how you moved against him and the little noises you made. He wanted to do it again.</p><p>You shuddered in pleasure, the same memories flooding into your mind. You were about to say yes, that you wanted him to touch you again but then as you parted away from him and saw the lustful way he was staring at you, your mind started wandering in a different direction. "I wanna make <em>you</em> feel good." You told him, almost nervous, "You always take care of me, let me take care of you."</p><p>Charlie let out a breathless chuckle, trying to process it in his mind. "Take care of <em>me</em>?" He repeated, eyebrows raising at the thought of it. It was still so surreal to him that he had spent so much time feeling unwanted and now his young gorgeous intern <em>wanted</em> him.</p><p>"Can I?" You asked him, hands running along the soft material of the sweater he had on. As excited as the thought of Charlie making you cum again made you, the idea of making <em>him</em> feel good was making you throb.</p><p>Charlie was laughing now, in disbelief. In what universe would he turn that down? "Of course you can." He said to you. Then, he inhaled in surprise, his laughter instantly dying off when he felt the way that your hand moved from his chest to the waistband of his pants.</p><p>You kept your eyes on his reactions as you cautiously trailed your hand to his growing erection. Your touch was light, heart speeding up just at the contact. You were fully aware of the way that you two could have someone walk in on you any minute but you didn't want to stop.</p><p>Charlie was watching your hand in concentration, jaw tensing and shifting as he moved his hips, allowing you to feel more of him against your palm. He couldn't remember the last time someone touched him like this. He and Nicole hadn't had sex in a year but it had been even longer since she did something like this for him.</p><p>"Can you sit down for me?" You asked Charlie in a quiet voice, motioning towards the chair that he had previously scooted away from the desk.</p><p>Charlie blinked, nodding, trying to compose himself enough to comprehend what you were saying. He'd do anything you told him to right now. He hesitantly moved away from you so that he could grab the chair and move it back in front of the desk, lowering himself on it while keeping his eyes on you the entire time.</p><p>You got off from the desk and carefully got down onto your knees in front of him, watching the way his chest visibly started rising and falling quicker. This made you anxious, to be doing something so bold in such a risky setting. But seeing how much Charlie wanted this and how concentrated he was on you, made you feel more confident.</p><p>You placed your hands on his knees and a slow smile made its way onto your lips. Seeing him hanging on your every action made you feel powerful in a way, something that you didn't feel often. "Do you want me to suck your cock under your desk, Mr. Barber?" You asked him, the casualness of your tone covering up the nerves you felt in your stomach to do so.</p><p>Charlie let out a soft groan, his hands gripping the sides of the office chair. Hearing you say something so explicit directly contrasted the innocent grin on your face. "I do want that." He told you in a rush, nervous that he'd miss his chance if he didn't.</p><p>You bit your lip, some of your nerves dissipating to see him so eager for you to do this. You slowly trailed your hands from his knees, up to his thighs.</p><p>Charlie instantly parted his legs, letting you move in between them. His cock was now straining against his pants, it was almost painful and he winced as your fingers brushed over the height it was creating underneath the material. He started undoing his belt, unbuttoning his pants in the process as well, needing some sort of relief from the restraint it was causing him. Soon, he was left in just his boxers, his pants around his ankles.</p><p>You watched him in fascination, slowly reaching your hand up from your position on your knees so that you could feel how hard he was from the outside of his underwear. You let out a small sigh at the feeling and at the way he was moving his hips up towards your touch.</p><p>"Please, I need you to touch me." Charlie said in a strained, deep voice, watching you with knitted brows.</p><p>You nodded in response, willing to do anything he told you to. You hooked your fingers underneath the waistband of his boxers and slowly slid them off of his hips, his erection springing out from the material.</p><p>You couldn't help the small exhale that left your lips at the sight of it. Charlie was <em>huge,</em> it was intimidating.</p><p>Charlie saw the way your eyes widened and a feeling of pride snuck up on him, it was a boost to his confidence to see a reaction like that. "What's wrong, babygirl? Don't think you can handle it?" He teased you, his hand habitually running over it's length, touching himself.</p><p>You let out a nervous giggle, your hands gripping his knees as you were practically hypnotized by the way he was stroking himself. "I can handle it." You assured him. To emphasize your point, you slowly covered your hand over his, joining in with his motions.</p><p>Charlie could barely breathe as he slowly moved his hand out from under yours, causing you to come into contact with his cock, your small hand instantly wrapping around it and beginning the same stroking movements he previously had been doing. "Fuck." He muttered, just at the feeling of someone touching him other than himself. It had been so long.</p><p>You watched his reactions, wanting to make sure that you were making him feel good. Judging by the look on his face and the way he was moving his hips in time with your hand, you were sure that he was enjoying himself. You shifted closer to him, keeping eye contact with him as you slowly parted your mouth and ran your tongue up the side of his length, pausing when you got to his tip.</p><p>"Oh my god." Charlie whined, hands clutching the arms of his chair as he watched you. This was the closest he'd ever gotten to experiencing porn in real life, the situation was almost cliche. His hot babysitter, almost half his age, blowing him under his desk while he continues to wear his wedding ring on his finger. "You're <em>such</em> a good girl." He sighed, somehow the trashiness of the entire situation just turning him on more.</p><p>You grinned at his validation, hand still continuing to stroke him as you slowly took the tip of his cock in your mouth, lips closing in around it. The fact that you were hiding underneath the desk that you had previously been doing legitimate work at a few minutes ago, only spurred you on more. This was all so fucked up.</p><p>"Please, baby. Show me how good you are." Charlie begged, his hips twitching upwards, trying to get more of his length in your mouth. "I need it." He added, desperate, trying so hard not to take control and move your head for you.</p><p>You made a noise of arousal against him, sending vibrations throughout his cock, making tilt his head back in pleasure. Then, carefully, you took more of his length inside of your mouth, breathing slowly to calm yourself down from the invasive feeling of it. You were trying to get used to the feeling, you hadn't done this in a while.</p><p>"Oh god." Charlie groaned, keeping his voice down. He moved his head back down so that he could look at you, watching the way it looked to be inside of you in this way. One of his hands went to your hair, brushing it away from your eyes and holding it in place to make you more comfortable.</p><p>You looked up at him over your lashes as you began to bob your head up and down. Making eye contact with your wide, playful eyes, made Charlie groan out loud, digging his hand that wasn't on the back of your head, into the leather of the chair he was in.</p><p>"Yeah, just like that, babygirl. You're doing such a good job." He told you, voice trembling with the effort of not making too much noise and not getting so caught up in the feeling that he finished too early. In all reality, Charlie could orgasm at any second, this was all too much for him and it had been so long. But he wanted to live this moment out, what if he never got it again?</p><p>Feeling motivated by his praise, you began to take him in farther in your mouth, making a small noise of discomfort when you felt him brush the back of your throat. You paused your motions, composing yourself before you started to relax into it, letting him enter your throat and continuing your nodding up and down on him.</p><p>Charlie's head tilted back, moaning under his breath, noticing how deep he was. Feeling you gag around his length but continue to pleasure him, was so hot to him. You were so determined to prove to him that you could do a good job, he loved knowing how much you wanted his approval.</p><p>"You like that?" Charlie asked you, breathless, staring down at you and moving both of his hands to the sides of your face, helping you move in the rhythmic way that you were. "Do you like taking your boss's big cock down your throat?"</p><p>His dirty words made you whimper and nod to the best of your abilities without stopping what you were doing, ignoring the urge that you had to reach down and touch yourself. You wanted to make this about him just like he had made the other night on his couch all about you.</p><p>"Maybe I should keep you here all the time. What do you think about that? Hm?" Charlie was getting caught up in the moment, talking in this filthy way because of how good this all felt. "If I had you waiting under my desk for me all day? When I get off work I could come up here and you could take all the tension away. Be my good little intern and make me cum whenever I need it. Would you like that?"</p><p>You moaned, locking eyes with him and nodding, answering his questions without being able to verbalize it. You knew he was just in the moment but if it came down to it, if this wasn't theoretical, you knew you wouldn't mind waiting around all day just to blow Charlie.</p><p>Charlie gritted his teeth, swallowing hard as he continued to move his hips, shuddering at how good your warm mouth felt on him. "God, I bet you would like that. You're <em>such</em> a good fucking girl."</p><p>You sped up your motions as you heard his compliments, wanting to do more, wanting to make him cum and make him proud.</p><p>Charlie could feel his muscles start to tighten, feeling the familiar feeling creeping up inside of him. You touching him had almost been enough to send him to the edge but the way that he was talking to you and how beautiful you looked on your knees for him, was getting him there so much quicker.</p><p>"Can I cum, baby?" He asked you, the movement of his hips becoming out of sync with your own because of how weak he was feeling, how close he was.</p><p>You knew what he was asking you, if it was okay if he came in your mouth or where he should finish if not. You parted your mouth away from him, continuing to pump him with your hand, "Please, Mr. Barber." You said, practically batting your eyelashes at him before closing your lips around him again.</p><p>Charlie knew that that was no turning back after that. His eyes fluttered shut, his entire body going rigid as he let his orgasm overwhelm him. His hands gripped the sides of your face tightly as he did so, keeping his cock in your mouth as he throbbed in release.</p><p>You coughed at first, feeling him hit the back of your throat but you quickly relaxed yourself and swallowed everything that he spilled inside of you. A part of you felt satisfied with yourself, that you were able to do that and make him feel so good.</p><p>After a few moments of deep breaths, as he came down from the high, Charlie released his touch on you. This allowed you to move away from him, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. He bent down and pulled his underwear and pants back on, not needing to be half naked if someone were to come in now.</p><p>"Come here." He said to you in a soft voice, patting a spot on his lap.</p><p>You were surprised that he wanted to be close to you after that. Perhaps it was just based off of past bad experiences but you assumed after a man finished, he wanted nothing to do with you. You especially thought that would be the case in an unfaithful situation like the two of you were in.</p><p>But still, you obeyed and stood up from the ground and onto his lap.</p><p>Charlie wrapped his arms around you, pulling you in closer against him. His heart was practically beating out of his chest from the way you'd just made him feel. "Are you okay?" He asked you, noticing the way that you were wincing slightly.</p><p>"I'm fine." You assured him. You were in a little bit of pain from being on the wood floor on your knees for so long and from the way you'd been gagging. But you didn't want to say that, you didn't want him to worry about you.</p><p>Charlie frowned, noticing the way that you were running your fingers over your legs. He brought your tall socks down just over your knees and saw that the skin was darker there, indicating that you were in pain. He gently began running his fingers over the bruised looking spot, "You could've told me you were hurting."</p><p>You shook your head, "I didn't want to stop." You said to him honestly, biting your lip at the bit of shame you felt admitting that out loud.</p><p>Charlie grinned at that, his hand able to close in around your entire knee. He let go so that he could put his fingers under your chin, forcing you to look over at him. He then wiped away under your eyes, at the makeup that ran just slightly from the way your eyes had been watering.</p><p>You were nervous under his stare, the amount of attention and care that he was giving you. You weren't used to it.</p><p>Charlie noticed the wide eyed way you were looking at him, almost innocent regardless of what the two of you had just done. His mind wandered back to what Kyle said earlier, when he called you a virgin.</p><p>He frowned, his hand going to your thigh where his fingers drummed against your skin. "Can I ask you something?"</p><p>"Sure." You said, growing concerned.</p><p>"You've..." His lips pursed in thought, wondering how to say it without prying too much, "You've had sex before, haven't you?"</p><p>You blinked, processing that question, it was definitely not what you were expecting. Then you started laughing, the fact that he was asking you that was funny to you for whatever reason. "I have." You answered him, "Why?"</p><p>Charlie was relieved. It wouldn't have changed his opinion or attraction towards you if you were actually a virgin. But honestly, he wanted to have sex with you and he wasn't sure if he could handle the pressure of being your first. "I just wanted to make sure."</p><p>You didn't question it further, not sure if you wanted to hear him call you naive or whatever else he was thinking about you. It would be embarrassing, you thought.</p><p>Moments of comfortable silence passed between the two of you with Charlie catching his breath and massaging your sore knees.</p><p>"Hey." He said in a gentle voice, squeezing your knee to get your attention.</p><p>You looked over at him expectantly.</p><p>Charlie didn't say anything but instead just stared at you, taking in how beautiful he thought that you were. He couldn't believe that he was doing any of this with you but when you two were alone, it just felt so <em>right</em>, it took the guilt away somehow.</p><p>He pressed his lips against yours, sighing happily at the way you melt against him, relaxing into the kiss.</p><p>In a few minutes, he'd have to tell you goodbye and he'd have to go home to Nicole. He knew the two of them would probably argue, he'd have to sleep on the couch that was too small for him, and have to hide the conflict from his son.</p><p>But right now, Charlie was holding you and he was kissing you and none of that mattered.</p><p>In this moment, even though it was temporary, Charlie had <em>you</em> and that's all he wanted.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Hiding</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><br/>Working with Charlie Barber was such a rush. It was the constant high of getting away with something that you shouldn't, the thrill of potentially being caught and still doing it anyways.</p><p>    Everytime the two of you were near each other, it was so difficult to pretend like everything was professional and as wrong as it all was, it was so much <em>fun</em> to feel this way. You and Charlie both woke up in the morning with a quickly beating heart and smiles on your faces. It had been so long since either of you had anything to be excited over. <br/><br/><br/></p><p>    You were currently standing up by the printer to collect the scripts you were printing off. You were alone in Charlie's office, trying to think of anything besides the man himself because it made it so hard to get anything done.</p><p>    You had your headphones on, making it impossible to hear that someone had just entered the room. Feeling hands on your waist from behind made you jump and let out a small noise of surprise, covering  your mouth after doing so.</p><p>    "Shh." A deep voice hummed, leaning down towards your ear as the headphone was pulled out of it. As if you weren't fully aware before, you could tell that the hands belonged to Charlie and your skin was on fire from the realization.</p><p>    "Charlie..." You tried to protest, looking around quickly to make sure that the two of you were alone. His office was almost always empty during the afternoon. Even though this was nerve wracking, you had a big smile on your face, loving the attention from him.</p><p>    Charlie grinned at your reaction, his hands staying on the indent of your waist as he carefully took the other headphone out of your remaining ear from behind you. His head ducked down close to your neck, "Are you getting some work done for me?" He asked in a soft voice, eyes flashing toward the papers coming out of the printer.</p><p>    "I'm <em>trying</em> to." You giggled, subconsciously arching your back away from him, moving your hips closer to his. "You're distracting me." You teased him, grateful for the interruption from your racing thoughts as you did his otherwise mindless task for him.</p><p>    The two of you hadn't had much time alone since Monday, when you had been on your knees under his desk for him. The two of you were practically aching for each other. There had been a few brief moments where you could press your lips silently against each other in a small hallway or when you were alone in the rehearsal space. But other than that, this was the closest the two of you had been in days.</p><p>    Charlie's lips ghosted against the skin on the crook of your neck, squeezing your waist when he felt the way it made you shudder. Although the contact with you caused his pulse quicken because of how risky it all was, touching you just felt so natural and <em>right</em>. "Take a break." He told you, gathering the papers that were sitting in the slot of the printer and setting them down on the desk beside it.</p><p>    "But I'm not done." You told him, glancing up at him over your shoulder with wide eyes, a playful smile on your lips.</p><p>    Charlie chuckled at that, although he knew you were joking, you were so eager to help him with anything that he could've almost believed that you were honestly that enthusiastic to print off some papers for him. "What? Are you afraid you'll get fired?" He asked you in a teasing way since he was your boss, after all.</p><p>    You rolled your eyes as you turned around in his arms, facing him and staring up at him. You hadn't been prepared to feel as startled as you did at the closeness, your chest practically pressed against his. As natural as this all felt, there was still a level of cautiousness that came along with it.</p><p>    Charlie was distracted by the intimacy as well, jaw tensing. He wanted to kiss you but he wasn't sure if he'd have the strength to stop once he started. He took a small step away from you, feeling more in control when he wasn't so close to your thumping heart.</p><p>    "Do you have plans this weekend?" Charlie asked you, tone a lot more casual than he was actually feeling.</p><p>    You thought about it and tried not to laugh at the question, it was too <em>normal</em> for the situation that the two of you were in. It was something that your sister would ask you, not your married boss that you were sneaking around with. "No." You answered, "I keep my schedule open for Henry." You explained.</p><p>    Although your weekends were set aside to babysit, the two of you both knew that you wouldn't be doing so this weekend. Nicole was visiting her sister in LA and she was bringing Henry with, leaving you with no one to babysit.</p><p>    Charlie smiled at that, glad to hear that you hadn't already found something else to do after knowing that you wouldn't need to watch him. "Let me show you something." He instructed you before walking towards his own desk, opening up his laptop, holding it in his arms.</p><p>    You followed closely behind him, instantly disappointed by the lack of closeness that you felt as he parted ways from you. As you got to his desk, you looked at what he was showing you, what he had pulled up on his computer screen. "What do you think?" He asked you, hesitant.</p><p>    Your mind was blank. "Um...I'm not sure what the context is." You said honestly.</p><p>    He paused, sighing. Maybe this was a mistake. "What if the context was...<em>for us</em>?" Charlie asked you slowly, his tone was nervous. "For the weekend."</p><p>    You glanced between him and the screen, thinking it over.</p><p>It was a website for a <em>hotel, </em>specificallya picture of a suite with a king bed inside of it.</p><p>    'For us' you repeated over and over in your head. A hotel room for the two of you.</p><p>    Charlie ran a hand through his hair, watching your expression, trying to read it. Your silence was worrying him. He was scared that this gesture was too far, maybe he was making an assumption that he shouldn't have. Regardless of what the two of you had done together, there was a possibility that spending the night alone with him wasn't something you wanted, it was just now dawning on him that this could be the case and he just ruined everything by bringing it up.</p><p>    "Really?" You asked him, skin heating up at the idea of being alone with Charlie.</p><p>    Charlie shut the laptop, frowning. He felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I just thought-"</p><p>    "I'd love that." You interrupted him, anxious at the way it seemed like he was changing his mind. "I want to." You added to reassure him.</p><p>    Charlie was taken back, processing it. A slow smile spread onto his face, "You do?" He asked, unable to believe it.</p><p>    "I do." You agreed, nodding, "I'd love to be alone with you." You added, a nervous grin on your face.</p><p>    It took Charlie a moment to let himself take that in, holding his laptop in his arms still. He discreetly looked you up and down and thought about what it would be like to have you alone in a room, pressed up against a wall, his hand up your skirt... "You're sure?" He asked you, really just wanting to hear you say it again, loving the reassurance.</p><p>    Although you felt your nerves growing, you shifted closer to him, putting a hand on his forearm. "I'm sure, Mr. Barber." You said to him, eyes dancing mischievously, hands squeezing slightly.</p><p>    Charlie couldn't help the low groan that escaped his lips, staring down at you with a clenched jaw. He knew he could just ask you to come over to his apartment to get you alone. Nicole and Henry would both be gone, there was no way that they'd catch you two. But the idea of having sex with you in the bed he shared with his wife made him sick and he thought you deserved better than your first time together being on his couch or somewhere similar.</p><p>    He wanted to get a hotel room for you so that it could feel new for the both of you. Something that you could experience together. As cheesy as it sounded, Charlie just wanted to take care of you, he wanted to make you feel good.</p><p>    "You better get back to work before I get carried away." He told you, smirking, looking you up and down again but this time more blatantly, not minding if you caught him. He set his computer back onto his desk.</p><p>    "You started it," You accused him, your smirk matching his, "I was just trying to be a good intern for you and you sidetracked me." You said, feigning innocence. Although the two of you had shared a few quick and secret kisses, it still made you nervous to flirt with him. You weren't sure if it had to do with the way you were sneaking around or if Charlie just made you nervous in general.</p><p>    Charlie's eyes were dancing, moving closer to you. "Is that what you call <em>this</em>? Being good?" His hand went to your hair, moving a strand of it away from your eyes as he looked down at you, keeping his hand on your cheek.</p><p>    Your pulse pounded as he started leaning down, eyes fluttering shut in a way that signaled to you that he was going to kiss you. You mirrored his actions, waiting for the impact of his lips.</p><p>    But then the sound of the office door being opened made the two of you quickly pull apart. Charlie instinctively opened his laptop again, making it seem like he'd been working on something the entire time and showing you it.</p><p>    The man who entered, one of the people who shared the space with him, was none the wiser. He was balancing multiple things in his hands and talking in a rushed voice on the phone. He barely even noticed the two of you were in the room, let alone notice the scene that he'd just broken up.</p><p>    Charlie was relieved, running a hand nervously through his hair as he sent you a grateful glance. It was a close one. You sent him a similar look back, eyebrows raised. You had to be more careful with each other, the vision of being alone in a hotel was making you forget how dangerous this all was.</p><p>    Keeping up the act of not doing anything suspicious, Charlie pointed towards his computer screen. "What do you think? One or two?" He asked, his tone was all business, anyone listening in would have no idea what he was actually referring to.</p><p>    Really, he was pointing to the number of beds in the hotel room, at the step in the booking process to specify if he wanted two queen beds or one king sized bed.</p><p>    You had to dig your fingernail into the skin of your palm to keep from giggling like an idiot like you wanted to, also wanting to keep up the facade of this being a technical question. "One." You responded, confident. There was no way you would be able to spend the night with Charlie and not be all over him.</p><p>    Charlie met your eyes, narrowing his in a way that indicated he wanted to smile. "I was thinking the same thing." He agreed, clicking on that option, sending you a quick wink. <br/><br/><br/></p><p> </p><p>    Friday night, you could barely think as you packed an overnight bag for the hotel room that Charlie bought the two of you. You wanted so badly to call your sister Erin and get her to boost your confidence and help you pick out what to bring with you. But there was no way you could tell her about this. Not only would she talk you out of it but she'd also never be able to let you live it down.</p><p>    You grabbed the essentials, things like your toothbrush and phone charger. You packed a pair of pajamas, making sure to pick out a cute matching pair, little shorts and a tank top. You also made sure that you packed your favorite pairs of underwear, clothes for the next day. It felt like you were getting ready for some fucked up version of a slumber party and honestly it was exciting.</p><p>    You checked your phone and saw that your Uber was close by so you threw your bag over your shoulder and started making your way down the steps of your apartment building.</p><p>    When you had been leaving work that afternoon, Charlie had discreetly handed you some cash and whispered to you that he wanted you to use it to pay for a car to the hotel. You had no problem taking the subway, it was what you were used to, but the fact that he was thinking everything through made you feel special.</p><p>Well, as special as you could feel while having an affair with your boss, but whatever.</p><p>    The ride to the hotel had been uneventful besides the driver casually trying to make conversation and asking if you had a friend visiting you, wondering why you were going to a hotel in the same city you lived in. You couldn't help but smirk when you answered that you were visiting your boyfriend. That definitely wasn't what you considered Charlie but it was satisfying to say.</p><p>    You felt a pit of shame in your stomach as you entered the hotel, giving a polite smile to the front desk worker who greeted you. Did everyone know that you were secretly meeting up with a married man? You felt like they could tell from the look of nervousness on your face or the extra makeup and perfume you put on before leaving but you were just being paranoid.</p><p>    You looked down at the text he sent you, with the room number in it as you pressed the corresponding button in the elevator. Your hand was shaking as you did so and you tried to take a deep breath as the hum of the elevator ascending filled your ears.</p><p>You were becoming more comfortable around Charlie but at the same time, you were still so intimidated by him. His position of power over you and marital situation didn't help matters. Being alone with him in a hotel room added pressure that wasn't there when you were at work with him.</p><p>    As you walked down the long hallway, you stopped at his hotel room door, hand hovering in a fist. You took a deep breath. If you knocked on this door and Charlie let you in, there was no way you'd be able to hold yourself back from going all the way with him, giving him everything. You had to make sure that this was what you wanted...</p><p>    Your mind wandered to Charlie, what he might look like waiting for you inside and you made up your mind. You knocked gently on the door, inhaling in nerves.</p><p>    Charlie had been watching tv while sitting on the edge of the bed with a beer in hand, when he heard the knock at the door. He straightened his shirt as he stood up, setting the bottle on the table beside him. He was just as nervous as you were, if not more. He'd never snuck around like this before, he was nervous he was giving in to his desires too quickly. He was just so wrapped up in you, he wasn't thinking about consequences.</p><p>    He ran a hand through his hair before he opened the door, revealing you waiting on the other side of it. As anxious as he did feel, seeing you standing there with your wide eyes and bag over your shoulder, made him grin. You were so fucking cute. "Hi." He said to you, moving so that you were able to enter the room.</p><p>    "Hi." You repeated back to him, a nervous chuckle leaving your chest as you stepped inside the doorway. He was still in his clothes from work, his tie loose around his neck.</p><p>    With the sound of the door shutting behind you and Charlie clicking the lock into place, you felt your worries intensify. You weren't sure why you were so worked up, it just seemed so much more intimate with nothing holding the two of you back from each other. There was nothing stopping you.</p><p>    Charlie moved behind you, grabbing for the large bag over your shoulder and helping you shrug it off, setting it on the couch on the opposite wall. "How was the drive here?" He asked you, suddenly feeling the same weight of being completely alone with you. It was the first time the two of you were with each other without the threat of someone potentially catching you and the implications of that were hanging in the air.</p><p>    "It was fine, nothing out of the ordinary." You said, barely able to comprehend what he was asking you because his hands brushed against your shoulders and he was standing so close to you.</p><p>    Charlie was staring down at you with an intense look in his eyes, the tension between you two feeling heavy on his chest. "I'm glad." He muttered, a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips. He noticed the way that your eye makeup was darker than normal, indicating you spend more time getting ready than you usually did for work and that made him swallow hard.</p><p>    "Did you spend time getting pretty for me tonight?" He asked you, his hand cupping your cheek and thumb running gently along the soft skin under your eye, looking at the makeup there.</p><p>    You bit your lip, practically melting into his touch on your face, gazing up at him. "I had more time than usual." You said, deflecting, not wanting to admit how much effort you put into seeing him.</p><p>    Charlie loved seeing all of your little reactions to him, even when you tried, you were never able to hide them from him. He leaned down towards you, keeping his touch on your cheek, "Well, you <em>do</em> look really pretty, sweetheart." He hummed. As he leaned down towards you, his lips brushed against yours, closing the gap between you two.</p><p>    You sighed against the kiss, letting out a small noise of pleasure. You were so attracted to Charlie and you admired who he was and what he's accomplished. Hearing him give you compliments and all of his attention made you feel like you were floating.</p><p>    Charlie felt the way you were relaxing against him and it made him groan lowly, wrapping his arm around your waist so that he could pull you in closer to him. His large hand found your waist, squeezing you.  "My pretty little girl." He muttered as he reached down with the hand that was previously on your face so that he could hook his arm underneath your thighs, picking you up.</p><p>    You instinctively wrapped your legs around his waist, your arms around his neck so that he could hold you up by gripping your thighs. He backed up until he felt the bed hit the back of his legs and he took a seat on the edge of it, keeping you in his lap as he did so with you straddling him.</p><p>    The two of you were kissing quick and passionate now, feverishly moving your lips and tongue with eachother's, sighing and moaning. Charlie's hands were all over you, from your hips to your ribcage to your neck. It felt like a dream to finally do what he wanted with you, he couldn't get enough of you.</p><p>    You shivered at the feeling of his hand sneaking it's way up your shirt, the feeling of his warm hand against your skin. It struck you then that you weren't able to feel the cool metal of his wedding band and when you glanced down you saw that he had taken it off, his ring finger bare.</p><p>    You tried to ignore that you noticed it, kissing him and letting him move your hips against his. There was a small pit of guilt in your stomach as you imagined him sitting alone in the hotel room and deciding to take the ring off, putting it somewhere secure.</p><p>    Oblivious to what you were thinking, Charlie grabbed the material of your shirt and pulled it over your head causing your mind to snap back into the present moment. He attempted to sit back so that he could look you over but you were pressing against him, kissing him hard to stop him from doing so, suddenly feeling too naked in front of him in just your bra.</p><p>You weren't exactly sure why you were so nervous in front of him at this moment. Now that it was just the two of you, you couldn't help but wonder if he'd be disappointed. Maybe he was attracted to you because of the thrill of it all, once that was gone, what if he wasn't into you in the same way you were into him...</p><p>    You didn't even realize that you were frowning into the kiss until Charlie tilted his head back, stopping you from biting his bottom lip. "Are you okay?" He asked you, blinking, trying to control himself from ignoring the suspicion he felt and continuing anyways, ready for you.</p><p>"Yeah." You answered instantly, not wanting to really think about his question because you weren't sure if you'd like the answer to it. Were you okay with this? You wanted him so badly, that wasn't even a question. But your insecurities were on the forefront of your mind. You were suddenly aware of the things you hated about your body, if you were a good kisser or not, whether Charlie would regret this when you were finished.</p><p>"Okay." Charlie said, not exactly convinced, wondering if he should stop this.</p><p>But then, you were running a hand through his hair and kissing him again and grinding your hips against his and he forgot his doubts.</p><p>His hands were all over your body again, wanting to feel your skin for the first time without it being covered by a shirt. He couldn't help but notice how you wouldn't part from your chest pressing against his, not giving him a chance to see what you looked like.    </p><p>Charlie said your name softly, putting a hand on your shoulder in an attempt to push you away from him enough so that he could look at you while he was talking to you. He wanted to let you know that if you changed your mind, you two could stop, there was clearly something bothering you.</p><p>But you ignored it, continuing to stay close against him as you pushed your skirt over your hips, moving off of his lap enough so that you could let the material pool on the floor. You stepped out of it, crawling onto his lap again and kissing him before he could really see much of your body, not wanting him to.</p><p>It wasn't that you wanted to <em>stop</em>, you were so turned on and you had been dreaming of this moment since you met him. But for some reason, the intimacy of being completely alone was making you question yourself and the way you looked.</p><p>The feeling of you almost naked, so close to him and kissing him so hard, was making Charlie's head spin and it was making it so hard to focus on the nagging voice in the back of his mind. As sexy as this all was and as much as he wanted you, something wasn't right. It didn't feel the way it usually did. You were so tense in his arms.</p><p>Charlie leaned back, saying your name again and grabbing your face into his hand to stop you from kissing him. "Talk to me, what's going on?" He asked you, catching his breath and ignoring the way your thighs felt wrapped around his hips.</p><p>"Nothing's going on." You told him, chest rising and falling quickly. He was holding your chin in his fingers so you weren't able to look away and you wanted to just disappear. You felt so stupid. He bought you this hotel room and now you were getting in your own head and ruining it.</p><p>"Sweetheart, look at me." Charlie said softly, taking his grip off of your face. "Do you wanna take a break? We can stop." He asked you, feeling guilty that you were even half naked on top of him in the first place if you weren't sure you wanted to do it.</p><p>You were about to tell him no, feeling embarrassed that you were second guessing yourself. But as you opened your mouth to say so, you saw the concentrated look on his face and you felt your resolve begin to crumble. "I'm sorry, I just...I don't know. I'm self conscious."</p><p>Charlie could see the way that you were working yourself up, blinking and looking away from him. "Hey, it's okay. You're fine, baby." He assured you. He reached behind him and grabbed for a blanket on the hotel bed, handing it to you. "Lay down for a while, we don't have to rush it, we have all night."</p><p>You were taken back by his kindness, how willing he was to put a stop to things. You hadn't been expecting it, you weren't used to that. You took the blanket from him and wrapped it around yourself, hiding your exposed skin from him as you moved next to him on the bed.</p><p>It was difficult for Charlie to separate his desire for you from his concern for you but looking into your wide eyes made it easier. He was always struck with this feeling to take care of you, to make sure you were okay. It was confusing to him but deep down he knew why. His life was spiraling out of control, he was losing his ability to take care of his family and he needed something to replace it. Charlie wanted to care for you because he was nervous he was going to lose everything he'd cared for, for years. It comforted him to know you had the ability to rely on him, it felt good.</p><p>Charlie put a gentle hand on where he knew your leg was resting under the soft material of the blanket. "Do you want something to drink? Water? There's some stuff in the fridge." He stood up from the bed and walked over in that direction, making an excuse to give you space without making you feel bad about it.</p><p>You moved on the bed so that you were sitting up with your back against the headboard, the covers pulled up around your shoulders to keep yourself covered. "Anything stronger than water?" You asked, knowing you needed some liquid courage.</p><p>Charlie grinned at that, raising an eyebrow. It was comical how surprised he continued to be by your small moments of showing him that you weren't as innocent as he originally believed. "Hmm," He hummed to himself as he bent down to open the fridge. "Beer." He said, looking everything over. He assumed you wouldn't want it.</p><p>"I'll take it." You told him.</p><p>Charlie looked at you over his shoulder, that same grin creeping onto his face in question.</p><p>You shrugged. Really, you weren't sure if you ever chose to drink beer before but you wanted something to calm your nerves. You wanted to be able to have fun with him like you'd been planning and your anxiety was getting in the way.</p><p>Charlie chuckled and shook his head at himself as he grabbed one and took the top off. "I didn't know you drank beer." He said, moving towards you to hand you the bottle.</p><p>"To be fair, you don't really know that much about me." You said to him, not meeting his gaze as you grabbed it from him.</p><p>Charlie frowned at that, picking up his own beer bottle that he'd set aside when you first walked in. He took a seat on the foot of the bed, not wanting to get too close to you if you were feeling uncomfortable. "Then tell me." He said to you, a gentle smile. "Tell me about yourself."</p><p>You chuckled nervously at that, keeping the blankets up by your chin as you took a sip. "What do you want to know?"</p><p>Charlie thought about it, his fingers running along the rim of the bottle in his hand. "Tell me what's going on in your mind right now. What's bothering you?" He looked over at you again. He just wanted to hold you.</p><p>You sighed, looking down to avoid his stare. You were embarrassed by this entire situation. "I was just really anxious coming here, you know, to be alone with you...I'm just in my head a little too much."  You admitted, taking a long drink to attempt to calm your nerves.</p><p>Charlie thought about that, trying to imagine what you could possibly be worried about  besides the obvious fact that you were doing this in secret. "Why's that?"</p><p>"I'm nervous." You admitted, running your hands over the comforter's material that was covering you. "<em>You</em> make me nervous...I know it sounds stupid because of all we've done but..." You trailed off, glancing up at him.</p><p>Charlie finished his beer and leaned towards the entertainment center across from him to set the empty bottle on top. He then turned towards you, his hand on your leg again. "Can I let you in on a secret?"</p><p>You nodded, your attention on him.</p><p>"You make me nervous too." He said to you, a small smile on his face despite the frown that was in his eyes.</p><p>You couldn't help but laugh out loud at that. He couldn't be serious. "How?"</p><p>Charlie pursed his lips in thought, figuring out how he wanted to word it. "All of <em>this</em>," He motioned around the hotel room, "Is very new to me, it's scary. I'm not used to sneaking around or, really, even having to hide anything...You make me nervous because of how much I think about you...you already have such a presence in my life." He said, keeping his eyes on you, his words genuine.</p><p>"It's been years since I've woken up with a smile on my face and gone to bed with one too. I get <em>excited</em> to go to work, I haven't felt that way since I first started, when I first moved out here." Charlie continued, "Ever since I hired you...I don't know how to describe it. I just feel <em>alive</em> and I don't want this feeling to end." He admitted to you, his own eyes widening at how honest he was being.</p><p>You opened your mouth to respond but you couldn't form the right words. You hadn't been prepared to hear that from him, you couldn't piece together how you wanted to respond, none of it seemed adequate in showing him how you really felt about him. Charlie was the only thing that made you feel giddy like this. He made you feel special and sexy and you couldn't remember a time that a man ever made you feel both at the same time before him.</p><p>Charlie noticed the way that you were holding back a smile and the familiar way your breathing picked up, indicating that your heartbeat was following suit. It assured him that at least on some level, you agreed with him. Raising his confidence, he slowly moved his hand up that was resting on your leg, closer to your thigh.</p><p>"Do you wanna know another reason why you make me nervous?" He asked you in a soft voice, hand squeezing your knee over the thick blanket when he reached it.</p><p>You nodded, keeping your eyes directly on him and his movements.</p><p>"I think you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." He said to you, pausing in the way he was coasting his grip up your leg.</p><p>"You're really talented, you see things at work that I can't even though I've been doing this for a while... You make me laugh all the time. I can look at you and just tell what you're thinking and it's funny to me, you don't even have to try and I'm smiling like an idiot... You're so <em>sweet </em>and you have this annoying ability to make everyone fall in love with you right away and I'm jealous of that because I can be off putting and I scare people away." Charlie chuckled at his own words, but then grew serious again as he locked eyes with you.</p><p>"Regardless of our circumstances, I feel like the luckiest man in the world to be alone with you right now. You have no reason to be self conscious or nervous, that's my job, okay?" Charlie said to you, serious.</p><p>You were gripping the glass bottle in one of your hands while the other clutched at the blanket wrapped around you, trying to anchor yourself into this moment. You had never heard that amount of praise from someone before and the fact that it came from <em>him...</em>your heart felt like it could explode.</p><p>    "You don't need to be self conscious." You told him a soft voice, "I want you so bad." You admitted, timid. You'd said more explicit things in the past to him, far more explicit, but right now after the way he made you feel, you felt exposed and you weren't as bold as you could've been.</p><p>    Charlie's eyebrows raised, his hand absentmindedly rubbing up and down your thigh at that, "You're all I think about. I want you so bad too, there's nothing you could do that would change that right now. Don't be nervous."  He assured you, looking at  you with intense eyes.</p><p>    You bit your lip, watching him. "You haven't seen me yet. What if you don't like it?" You asked him, glancing down at yourself, knowing you were in just your bra and underwear and socks underneath the blanket.</p><p>    Charlie exhaled, unable to stop the laugh that left his chest, the idea was just so ridiculous to him. It also made him sad, that you would even think that about yourself. "You're gorgeous. Don't think that way." He said, frowning.</p><p>    It wasn't as if your insecurities just zapped away because he complimented you but seeing how honest he was being and how much he wanted you, made you feel more confident. You wanted to please him, you had this urge to make him proud. You set the bottle on the nightstand next to you.</p><p>    Charlie noticed the way that you were warming up to the idea. "Can I see you, sweetheart?" He asked you, his tone was low and seductive, coaxing you. "Do you want to show me how pretty you are? I think you're so beautiful."</p><p>    You took a deep breath, swallowing hard. You were still nervous but you were aroused as well by his words and it was fueling you to slowly start lowering the blanket around you.</p><p>    Charlie's chest was rising and falling visibly, staring at the way that you were showing him more and more of your skin. "Just like that. There you are, good girl." He encouraged you, nodding with a tense jaw.</p><p>    You moved out from under the blanket, exposing yourself to him, keeping your eyes on his to see all of his reactions, trying to make sure that he liked what he saw.</p><p>    Charlie kept his eyes on yours for a moment before he cautiously moved his gaze down your body. You were wearing a lacy bra with matching panties, your thigh high socks still on. Your body was beautiful and better than he could've ever imagined in his daydreams. "You're perfect." He told you and he meant it. He began taking his tie off, unable to stop himself from moving this along, needing you.</p><p>    You grinned, thrilled by his compliments and from the way that he was starting to take off his own clothes. Charlie always had a way of calming you down, you weren't sure if he even realized how good he was at it. You shimmied into a position where you were laying down, getting more comfortable but also wanting him to take the hint and get in bed with you.</p><p>    Soon, Charlie only had on his boxers and the watch on his wrist as he crawled on top of you in bed. His lips were on yours instantly, sighing at the way it felt to feel your skin on his skin and be in such an intimate setting with you.</p><p>    You brushed his hair away from his face, feeling the soft dark waves brushing against your skin and tickling you as you kissed him. You thought about this constantly, you felt so happy to be underneath Charlie.</p><p>    He went to shift his weight onto his elbows, making it easier to hold his position but he slipped slightly, causing him to almost rest his weight on top of you. "Shit, sorry." He muttered, a laugh leaving him as he did so. It had been a long time since he did this, he was out of practice.</p><p>    You joined in his laughter, your hands still holding his hair back as you stared up at him while he readjusted himself.</p><p>    His eyes caught yours and his laugh faltered, taken back by how beautiful you looked. He loved having these moments with you. No matter how intense the situation was, what you were hiding from or nervous about, you two could always share a moment of understanding.</p><p>    At that thought, Charlie became more serious, determined to have you, he wanted you so badly. His lips crashed against yours passionately, hand gripping your thigh that you hooked around his waist to pull him down closer to you.</p><p>You two continued to make out in this heated way, touching each other and moaning. You could've done it for hours, it felt so good to be so open with each other and be able to do this without any interruptions.</p><p>Charlie parted from you, breathing heavy. "I want to taste you, sweetheart, can I?" As much as he liked kissing you, he wanted to make you cum, he spent so much time thinking about the noises you had to hold back from him when he did so on his couch.</p><p>You were confused at first, not knowing what he meant but then it clicked and you nodded quickly. "Okay, Charlie." You said to him, blinking, surprised by his request.</p><p>He grinned at your enthusiasm and slowly moved down your body. He left kisses as he went, pausing at your chest. He snuck a hand underneath your rib cage, glancing up at you with questioning eyes.</p><p>You knew what he wanted and you nodded at him, shivering at the way you felt him fumble against your skin, unhooking your bra. You shrugged out of it, tossing it away from you on the bed.</p><p>Charlie groaned, seeing your breasts exposed to him. "So pretty." He murmured, kissing the soft skin in between them, his hand moving up to cup one, running his thumb along your hardened nipple.</p><p>You sighed and tilted your head back, shutting your eyes to fully enjoy how good it felt to be touched by him. He was so gentle but also so firm, he knew exactly what he wanted but he wanted to make sure it felt good for you too.</p><p>Charlie's tongue found the nipple that wasn't being teased by his thumb and he purposefully let his tongue run along it in similar motions as his finger. He glanced up at you as he did so, wide eyes searching to see if you were enjoying it.</p><p>You were letting out soft noises, arching your back up so that he could have full access to you, not wanting him to have any reason to stop what he was doing. Charlie thought you looked like an angel.</p><p>He continued his movement of his tongue against your nipple, closing his mouth in around it while he slowly trailed the hand that was on your other breast, down between your legs, sighing at the soft skin of your stomach as he did so.</p><p>You were squirming underneath him, moving your hips towards him as he palmed you from the outside of your underwear, able to feel how warm you were. He teased you for just a few seconds, rubbing you from the outside of your panties before he carefully pulled them down, away from you. He put a hand on the inside of your thigh and pushed your legs apart, spreading you open for him.</p><p>When Charlie's fingers landed on the wetness between your legs, you inhaled sharply, eyes opening to stare at the ceiling.</p><p>"Good girl." He muttered on your skin, tongue flat against your nipple as he moved it against you. His fingers were exploring your folds, groaning at how wet you were, imagining how good it was going to feel to be inside of you.</p><p>He parted from your breast and shifted down your side, positioning himself so that he was in between your thighs, his feet hanging off of the bed from how tall he was. He placed his hands on your hips, staring up at you.</p><p>You had previously been looking away, too embarrassed to let him see how much he was affecting you. But when you glanced down and  saw how sexy he looked, hair messy and panting, you couldn't take your eyes off of him.</p><p>Seeing that he had your attention, Charlie leaned forward and placed his lips on your swollen clit, keeping eye contact with you. He groaned at the feeling, his tongue leaving his lips to carefully begin caressing you.</p><p>You propped yourself up on your elbows, staring at him. No one had ever done this for you before. You had never had someone go down on you. You always thought it was something that men hated to do. You couldn't believe that Charlie asked for it and was <em>enjoying</em> it.</p><p>"You taste so fucking good, sweetheart. I knew you would." He hummed, sending vibrations through you from the resonance of his low voice. After speaking, he began licking you again, using his lips and tongue to pleasure you. He might've been out of practice, he hadn't done this in a very long time, but he still knew exactly what he was doing.</p><p>You gasped at the feeling, hands grasping at the sheets underneath you, eyebrows knitting together. He was expertly lapping at your clit, occasionally moving his tongue down and dipping in and out between your folds, just tasting you, he couldn't get enough.</p><p>"Do you think you can cum for me, baby?" He asked you, eyes fluttering open to meet yours, gripping your hips. "I wanna make you feel good, I wanna hear you say my name." He spoke in between licks.</p><p>You nodded quickly, not wanting him to stop, "It feels so good." You moaned, practically whimpering at the feeling.</p><p>Charlie groaned at that, the lapping motions of his tongue and lips becoming quicker, feeling more turned on the longer he did this for you. He moved a hand down to join his mouth, cautiously entering his middle finger inside of you, keeping his eyes on you.</p><p>You let out a loud moan at that, your head tilting back but keeping your eyes open on him, not wanting to miss out on how perfect he looked in between your legs like this. Your hips started rocking without even meaning them to, grinding yourself against his tongue.</p><p>"Fuck." Charlie grunted, feeling how needy you were getting for him, rolling your hips around to get more friction. He added another finger inside of you, his ring finger and exhaled at the way it made you whine.</p><p>"Oh my god." You moaned, gripping the sheets tightly beneath you, feeling a familiar feeling building up inside of you. "Charlie, just like that, please don't stop." You begged him, breathlessly.</p><p>Charlie had absolutely no intention of stopping. He could do this forever just to hear the sounds you were making. He continued what he was doing, listening to you and your body and knowing that's what you needed.</p><p>He did this for a few more minutes and the entire time you got closer to your climax, you were overwhelmed by him. He was so handsome and he was attentive of you. Even now, with his head between your legs, he was making sure that everything he did made you feel good and that he was giving you what you wanted. You knew if you weren't careful you could start falling in love with this extremely unavailable man.</p><p>At the thought of that, you felt your orgasm creeping up on you. You felt so grateful to have someone like him taking care of you, the idea of that pushed you right up to your peak. "Oh god, Charlie." You moaned, letting out quick breathy moans, saying his name over and over again as you came.</p><p>Charlie felt like a god, watching someone as perfect as you say his name and fall apart against his mouth. "You're such a good girl." He muttered.</p><p>You were out of it as you collapsed against the mattress, catching your breath and shutting your eyes. You felt Charlie move away from you but you were too caught up in coming down from your high to acknowledge it.</p><p>While you recovered, Charlie took the moment to slip his boxers off, moving off of the bed to reach down into his discarded pant's pocket. He searched, pulling out the small package, a condom.</p><p>As you collected yourself, you blinked your eyes open so you could watch what he was doing. You saw him take a seat on the edge of the bed, ripping the condom wrapper open with his teeth. You weren't sure why it aroused you further so watch him carefully position it over his cock and roll it down so that it was covering his length.  You supposed everything he did would be sexy but also the fact that he was being responsible enough to wear protection without even thinking about it or needing you to ask him for it, made your head swim.</p><p>He glanced over at you and when he saw you were staring at him, he started smiling. You looked so beautiful with your makeup smudged and hair messy, looking at him with glazed over eyes.</p><p>When Charlie was sure that the condom was on him correctly, he moved back on top of you, the same smile on his face as before. "My perfect little girl, look at you." He cooed, placing his forearms on either side of your head so that he could line himself up with your entrance.</p><p>You hummed at his words, butterflies erupting in your stomach at them and at the way that he was staring down at you. You were hit with the hope that maybe one day you really could be his girl. Maybe there would be a time when he wasn't married and he wasn't your boss and you could be together. You held onto that hope as he bent down to kiss you.</p><p>You tried to repeat that to yourself, wondering what it would feel like: Charlie belonged to you and no one else.</p><p>You whimpered at your own thought, wanting that so badly. It was so far from reality but you tried not to think too much about that. In this moment, Charlie did belong to you and that's all that mattered.</p><p>"Are you ready, baby?" Charlie asked you, his hand wrapped around his cock as he rubbed the head of it along your folds, coating it with your wetness.</p><p>You nodded eagerly, a hand going up to his hair, running through it while the other hand settled onto his shoulder. "Yeah." You answered softly.</p><p>It took him a few moments to align himself in the right spot but after a small bit of struggle, Charlie was able to thrust gently inside of you, a gasp leaving him as he did so.</p><p>You made a similar noise, grasping onto his shoulder at the feeling.</p><p>"Oh my god." The two of you breathed out in unison, speaking at the same time.</p><p>Your eyes met each other's stare, lazy grins on your faces as he began to move his hips, thrusting in and out of you in a slow motion, wanting you to have time to adjust to his length.</p><p>For a while the only sounds that could be heard were the moans that were leaving the two of you and the sound of the mattress occasionally squeaking with the way he was rocking you. Neither of you could tell how much time had passed, if it had been seconds or minutes or hours, you were both just lost in the moment and in each other.</p><p>You two had both waited so long for this and it felt perfect, like you were made for each other.</p><p>"You're so tight, sweetheart, you feel so fucking good." Charlie moaned, hips speeding up at the words leaving his mouth. He was always able to spur himself on with his own dirty talk, it allowed him to get caught up in the moment. "I have dreams about this, I've wanted this since I first saw you."</p><p>Your back arched, whining and moaning at the way he was moving faster and rougher. His cock was huge but you were so wet and relaxed with him, you took it with no problem, his good girl.</p><p>Charlie started kissing you as you wrapped  your legs around his waist, allowing him deeper access inside of you, hitting you at just the right angle. He could feel your cute little socks against his skin. He wouldn't last long, he never did with you. To be fair, it was the first time he had actual sex with someone in over a year, it had been even longer since he'd been so turned on for it. It wasn't his fault that he'd been pent up for so long.</p><p>"I wanna make you cum, Charlie." You breathed out, wrapping your arms around his neck. "You do such a good job taking care of me, I want you to feel as good as I did." You were rambling, talking nonsense, wanting to get him to his climax.</p><p>Charlie's eyebrows furrowed together, almost wincing at how good this felt, groaning. "Oh god, baby, keep talking." He told you, his hips moving at a feverish pace, "You're taking me so well, being such a good girl."</p><p>You whimpered, biting your lip, he was so deep inside you now. "I love the way you feel inside of me. You fuck me good, Mr. Barber." You moaned in a soft voice, leaning forward so that you were able to kiss his neck, lips finding his pulse.</p><p>Charlie moaned loudly at that, his hips faltering for just a second because of how overwhelmed he was hearing that leave your mouth. "You want me to cum, sweetheart? Want me to cum inside this pretty little pussy?"</p><p>You bit down on his neck gently, nibbling his skin, sighing audibly. "Please, Charlie, I want you to cum, please." You were begging as your hands went to his back, your nails running along his shoulder blades.</p><p>He couldn't hold back anymore. You being so desperate for him to orgasm pushed him straight to the edge, the feeling of his muscles tensing and relaxing in the perfect way, washing over him. Charlie continued to thrust slightly inside of you as he came, moaning your name and riding out his orgasm as long as he could.</p><p>You couldn't stop smiling, holding him close on top of you as he came down from the intensity of all of it. You felt like you were buzzing in the best way. </p><p>Charlie stayed in his position on top of you for a few minutes, staying inside of you as he composed himself. You didn't mind, you enjoyed feeling this close to him. You ran your fingers up and down his back in a soothing way, feeling how quickly his heartbeat was thumping against you.</p><p>"Thank you for trusting me." Charlie murmured, tilting his head back so that he could kiss you. He knew that it took a lot out of you to do this. To come to a hotel room in secret and to show yourself to him the way that you did.</p><p>You never wanted this to end. If it were up to you, you'd spend the rest of your life just like this: hiding away from the world with Charlie.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Gone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Waking up with Charlie Barber's arms wrapped around you was like a fucking dream. <br/><br/><br/></p><p>You weren't exactly sure what time the two of you fell asleep but you remembered that you could see peaks of sunlight coming in through the curtains on the window, indicating that it was early hours of the morning.</p><p>You and Charlie spent hours and hours sitting up in bed, drinking beer, eating pizza that he ordered the two of you and just getting to know each other. You had made a casual comment earlier that night, about how Charlie didn't know that much about you, and he took that as a challenge. He wanted to know everything about you.</p><p>The two of you went back and forth, sharing seemingly useless information about yourselves. Things like what got you into theater, your favorite music, what you did in your free time. It was all surface level for the most part but you had never felt closer to him. He was so easy to talk to.</p><p>The best part was, you lost track of the amount of times that you two <em>laughed</em> together. At one point you even had tears in your eyes from the way that he was cracking you up. It felt so easy, way too natural for the situation that you were in with him.</p><p>Of course, you couldn't help yourselves from having sex another time before you fell asleep. This second act was lazier than before, more comfortable. You trusted him with your body now so there was no need to worry, you were able to enjoy it even more. He held you close after he came and told you that you were beautiful and you had felt like your heart might explode.</p><p>You glanced over at the alarm clock on the bedside table, blinking to adjust to the light of the morning so that you were able to read the digital numbers: ten-thirty.</p><p>A yawn escaped your lips as you adjusted in Charlie's embrace so that you were able to look him over. You needed a physical reminder that last night was real, it felt too good to be true.</p><p>He was shirtless, wearing his boxers and his watch was ticking away on his wrist. His dark hair was splayed over the white pillow case beneath him and a gentle snore was leaving his chest. You were certain that you'd never seen someone so handsome and the fact that he was holding you close to him made you feel so lucky. </p><p>You couldn't help yourself from reaching up and moving some stray hairs away from his closed eyes. Your touch lingered on his skin as you did so, finding it difficult to not touch him when he was in such close proximity to you.</p><p>Feeling the contact, Charlie's eyes slowly fluttered open, waking up. It took him a few moments to remember where he was and who he was with. The memories of the night before flooded through his mind and a sleepy grin made its way onto his face at the way it made him feel. "Hi, sweetheart." He said to you, his voice was deep and raspy, affected by how much the two of you had talked the night before and the lack of sleep.</p><p>Even in your fatigued state, you felt butterflies in your stomach to hear him address you that way. "Hi." You said to him. Your hand was still in his hair, gently stroking through his fluffy waves. "Good morning."</p><p>Charlie hummed in agreement. It was a <em>very</em> good morning. "You're still here." He commented.</p><p>You paused your relaxing motions through his hair, frowning. "Did you want me to leave?" You asked, suddenly feeling stupid. You wondered if he hadn't wanted to actually stay the night, you'd never slept with a married man before, maybe you weren't doing this right.</p><p>"No." Charlie replied quickly, "<em>No</em>." He repeated. He tightened his arms around you, one of his hands squeezing you, as if to reiterate his point. "I just thought you might want to."</p><p>Really, Charlie thought that the two of you had an amazing night with eachother but he didn't expect you to be there when he woke up. This was a man who was used to sleeping alone on a couch that was too small for him. The idea of waking up to you on his chest in a comfortable bed, was unheard of for him. But he was so glad that it was the case, he was so happy that you were still there.</p><p>You were confused by that but didn't show it. "You can't get rid of me that easily." You replied, "Especially not after buying me pizza." You joked with him. You moved your hand from his hair so that you could rest it against his bare chest, your head placed nearby.</p><p>Charlie smiled at that, keeping his grip on you tight, his way of keeping you there in bed with him.</p><p>A few moments of comfortable silence passed, the two of you appreciating how close you could be with each other in this moment. "I'm fucking exhausted." He finally admitted.</p><p>You laughed, he took the words out of your mouth, you had been thinking the same thing. Charlie joined in on your laughter, eyes up on the ceiling. "Me too." You told him. Neither of you really got enough sleep but it didn't matter, you had so much fun that no level of sleepiness could affect your good moods.</p><p>"You kept me up all night." Charlie said, his hand running up and down your back absentmindedly, fingers light against your skin.</p><p>You frowned, "I'm sorry." You said to him, glancing up to gauge his expression.</p><p>Charlie glanced down at you, the same soft smile on his face. "Don't be. I'm not sorry." He explained, continuing his motions of stroking your skin. "It's been a long time since I've stayed up all night because I was having a <em>good</em> time, not a bad one." He said, contemplative. He hadn't been getting a lot of sleep in general lately. But that was mostly due to being uncomfortable on the couch and having hundreds of things to worry about. With you, he stayed up until the early hours of the morning just because he wanted to. He didn't want to fall asleep and lose any alone time with you.</p><p>You realized you were in the same boat. Since moving to New York, you spent a lot of time sitting up in bed alone, scrolling through your phone, being too anxious to lay down and force yourself to fall asleep. It was so much different than sitting up in bed with Charlie and opening up to each other.</p><p>"Do you have any plans today?" He asked you, stifling a yawn.</p><p>You thought about it. What plans could you possibly have? You had no friends here and  you barely even knew your way around. "No plans." You answered him.</p><p>Charlie made a small noise of understanding. "I have a few errands to run but you can stay here if you want. I'll give you a room key in case you decide to go back to your apartment or something." He was looking up at the ceiling, rubbing your back, "If you want to be here around dinner time, I'll bring us back some food."</p><p>You couldn't help but grin at that. In this moment, it didn't bother you that you two were forced to hide away in the hotel room. You didn't need to go on a real date with him in public because you were more than happy to just spend time with him. Eating take out on a hotel bed with Charlie was so much better than not being with him at all.  "Sure." You agreed with him.</p><p>You stared at him, at the look of content comfort on his face and you found yourself reaching up to press your lips against his cheek, feeling a surge of affection towards him.</p><p>Charlie froze at first, not expecting it but then a large smile fell onto his lips. He reached a hand up to the back of your head, not letting you move away from him when you parted from kissing his cheek. His fingers were in your hair as he kissed you softly, sighing at the feeling.</p><p>When you pulled away,  Charlie was still looking into your eyes. "You're so cute." He said gently which earned a nervous giggle from you, just further proving his point of how adorable you were.</p><p>Your hand that was resting on his bare chest adjusted as you also adjusted in the bed, moving so that you could face him easier. You froze when you came into contact with the top of his boxers, feeling the way that the material was tented forward, indicating to you that Charlie was hard, straining against the material.</p><p>He inhaled sharply at the feeling, hips subconsciously bucking up towards the brush of your hand. Heat rushed to his face at the realization, averting his eyes from you. "Sorry, honey, it just happens in the morning." He chuckled, embarrassed.</p><p>"Don't apologize." You said to him quickly. You didn't want him to feel bad about something out of his control, especially not something like <em>that</em>. You watched his expression as you cautiously ran your fingers over his erection, touching it through the thin material of his underwear. "Can I?" You asked him, wanting to really touch him and take care of him.</p><p>Charlie let a laugh escape his chest, the sound of it breaking off into a soft groan at the feeling of your touch. "You never have to ask, sweetheart, I'd never tell you no." He informed you, holding himself back from blatantly begging for it. He felt like he was still asleep and having the best dream. You were unreal to him.</p><p>You smiled widely at his response, hooking your fingers under his waistband so that you could pull his underwear down over his hips. You pushed the blanket away from his skin, feeling the way that his cock sprang out from the material.</p><p>Charlie looked so gorgeous as he watched you wrap your hand around him, your head moving down so that you could run your tongue along his tip, tasting the wetness that had already beaded there, humming as you did so. "<em>Good</em> girl." He sighed, tilting his head back. He had a comfortable smile on his face, moaning. The perfect way to wake up. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>That afternoon, Charlie had to leave to run some errands like he told you about that morning. You originally planned to just relax in the hotel room and wait for him to come back. There was something exciting about it; being alone in a room that you had just done so many things with the man you were becoming obsessed with. But you realized that you never spent time exploring the city and you were in a nice area that you'd always wanted to walk around at.</p><p>So now, you were standing in a cute little boutique store down the street from the hotel. It was a place you'd normally just walk right past. It wasn't exactly <em>expensive </em>but it was more than what you were usually willing to pay for clothing and based on the fact that you were trying to conserve the small amount of money that you had saved to pay for your shitty little apartment, shopping for fun wasn't something you'd done in a long time.</p><p>But when you walked past the store's front windows, you saw the prettiest piece of lingerie you'd seen in a while on the mannequin and you couldn't help yourself from walking inside. You told yourself that you were just going to look at it up close. But now you were holding it in your size in your hands and it was even better than you originally thought it was.</p><p>It was light in color, not exactly white but not exactly pink either. It was one piece, low cut down the front and revealing in the back, all lace with a satin ribbon that tied it together in the back.</p><p>You tried to imagine how you'd look in it and what Charlie's reaction to you in it would be and just the thought of it made your heart thump. The night before you'd been so cautious and insecure and although Charlie kept reassuring you that he didn't mind, you felt the need to make it up to him. He bought the hotel room for the two of you to spend time together and you wanted to be able to prove to him that he made a good choice doing so. You wanted this risky "trip" together to be worth it for him.</p><p>So, despite the price, you were checking out at the register with an excited smile on your face. You'd just have to rely on Charlie for a few more leftover meals to make up for what you were spending on this.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>It was a few hours later and you were sitting on the edge of the hotel bed, feet dangling off the side as you tried to distract yourself by watching what was on television in front of you. Charlie was going to be back soon and somehow you had convinced yourself to be bold enough to have the lingerie on when he walked in.</p><p>You were glad that you brought your makeup with you and other things to get ready because it boosted your confidence but it didn't boost it enough to not feel the pit of nervousness in your stomach. In the back of your mind, you knew that Charlie would be pleasantly surprised but what if, on the off chance, he wasn't into it? Maybe he thought that lingerie was cliché or maybe he hated this style of it...</p><p>You didn't have time to contemplate it further or talk yourself into putting your regular clothes back on because you heard fumbling outside of the hotel room door, sounds of the lock clicking. Charlie was back.</p><p>When he first opened the door and entered inside, he didn't look at you right away. His hands were full with bags of food for the two of you and his wallet was also in his hand, trying to put the room key away while keeping his grip on everything. "Hey." He said to you, distracted though you could tell in his voice that he was happy to see that you were still there, waiting for him.</p><p>You watched as he went over to the small table in the corner, setting the bags down on it before shrugging his jacket off of his shoulders, placing it on the couch in front of him. His back was turned towards you. "I got us some food from that café a few blocks over, I wasn't sure what you'd like so there's a few different things to choose from. I needed a coffee and just figured..." He cut himself off from speaking as he turned around to face you, his words leaving his mouth at the sight of you.</p><p>You shifted anxiously on the bed, resisting the urge to wrap your arms around yourself to cover up now that he was looking at you. You'd been naked in front of him before but you still felt so exposed, you wondered if you always would.</p><p>Charlie was speechless, mouth hanging open slightly as he took in your appearance. That was the last thing he was expecting when he walked in the door.  A part of him wasn't even sure if you'd be there, let alone dressed up like this.</p><p>"What do you think?" You asked him, biting your lip nervously.</p><p>He still couldn't articulate his thoughts. Instead he made his way over to you on the bed, his eyes searching over you carefully, taking in every inch of the way that you looked.</p><p>"I just need your help." You told him, slowly standing up and holding the material against yourself. The ribbon in the back that tied it together was undone, you had tried but you'd been unable to tie it behind your back. You slowly turned on your heel, facing away from him and showing him what you meant.</p><p>Charlie moved in, his hands instantly going to the ties that were hanging down on your  body. A good distraction from his racing thoughts. Although he was slightly trembling, he expertly tied the soft material into a large loose bow, his chest rising and falling steadily as he did so.</p><p>Being able to tell that he was finished, you slowly turned back towards him, looking up at him with wide eyes. "So..." You weren't sure what to say, you were so nervous because he wasn't exactly reacting.</p><p>But then Charlie cut you off by leaning down and pressing his lips against yours hard, not giving you the chance to start rambling or second guessing yourself. He continued to kiss you as he moved over to the bed, taking a seat on the edge of it and pulling you close into his parted thighs.</p><p>You rested your hands on his broad shoulders, feeling the soft material of the sweater that he was wearing while his hands ran over the lacy material of the lingerie you had on. It felt as if he were searching all over your curves and skin, trying to memorize the feeling, all of this was so fleeting and that wasn't something neither of you could forget, even in this moment.</p><p>He parted away from you, looking you over in awe. "You're so fucking pretty, do you know that?" He asked in a soft voice, finger tips running over the indent of your waist, the space in between your breasts.</p><p>You didn't respond, you were too busy grinning at his compliment. You loved getting praise from him and he was so good at giving it to you.</p><p>"I hope you do." Charlie answered his question about whether you knew that you were pretty. His eyes looked you over. "The prettiest little girl." He murmured to himself, eyes locking with yours. "Do you know how lucky I am? To come back from being busy all day to <em>this</em>?"</p><p>You moved your hands from his shoulders up to his hair, playing with it. You loved his hair, it was always so soft and fluffy, it was hard not to constantly touch it when you two were alone like this.</p><p>Charlie put one of his hands under your chin, holding you in place so that he could reach up and kiss you. "Thank you for dressing up for me, sweetheart, this looks so good on you." He said, then closed his hand in on your waist. "Come here." He muttered, unable to stop himself from pulling you in closer, onto his lap.</p><p>You giggled, feeling almost dizzy from his admiration as you straddled his hips. "I went shopping while you were gone and I thought you might like this. I wanted to surprise you." You said to him in between the kisses that he was giving you.</p><p>Charlie hummed at that, feeling his pulse quicken at the thought of you going out in the busy city all alone and picking out something with the sole purpose of him seeing you in it. It had been such a long time since he felt this <em>special</em> and it wasn't something that he even thought he needed until you showed up in his life.</p><p>"It's a really good surprise. You're such a good girl, honey." He said against your lips, hands going to your ass, squeezing you. He groaned at the feeling, how you felt pressed up against him in his lap. "You have the most perfect body, you know how much I love it."</p><p>"You're so good to me." You sighed against his touch. Charlie himself was far from perfect and the situation that the two of you were in didn't help matters. But you felt so safe with him and he has done nothing to disrespect you or make you feel bad since you've met him. He made you so happy, as stupid as that made you feel considering he was your married boss.</p><p>Charlie smiled against your lips at that statement. Hearing praise was unfamiliar to him lately and it made him feel so good to hear it from you of all people. "You think so? You love when I take care of you, don't you?" You let out a small noise of agreement at that and he wrapped his arms around you. "Then let me take care of you. You're all mine tonight, let me show you grateful I am that I have you alone."</p><p>You bit your lip to hold back the embarrassing grin that wanted to form on your face as Charlie lifted you up from his lap enough to lay you down on the mattress behind him. You watched as he adjusted on the bed as well, kicking his shoes from his feet so that he could kneel closer to you without putting them on the bed. Something about the fact that he was fully clothed while you were in such a skimpy outfit turned you on. You felt like his little doll.</p><p>Charlie kept his eyes on your little reactions as he gently ran just his fingertips over the front of your body, focusing on your hardened nipples when he brushed over them through the thin material of your lingerie. "So gorgeous, sweetheart." He muttered, mostly to himself as he stared at the ways your body was reacting to him.</p><p>You felt more bold from his approval, noticing the way his pupils were dilating as he looked you over. "I'm all yours tonight, Charlie." You said to him, practically batting your eyelashes up at him.</p><p>Charlie moaned out loud at that, realizing that it was true. It didn't matter who he legally belonged to when he left this hotel room in the morning. Tonight you were his and he was yours. The weight of that made him feel almost lightheaded with desire.</p><p>His touch went down your stomach, pausing when he reached the space between your thighs which you readily parted for him. He ran his finger tips over the heat that he could feel through the material of the panties of your outfit.</p><p>You inhaled, already arching your back at the feeling and staring down at the way that his hands looked as they caressed you.</p><p>"Do you like that?" Charlie cooed, smirking, watching the way you were eagerly reacting to his feather like touches.</p><p>"Mhm." You mumbled, swallowing at the feeling. It was all too much but also not enough.</p><p>Charlie moved his hand away from you and you almost protested but then he was moving his fingers up to your mouth. "Get them wet for me, honey. Before you start touching me, I want to make you cum. I wanna take care of you." He said to you and that's all it took for you to open your mouth and take his middle and ring finger in along your tongue.</p><p>Charlie watched you in fascination, running his fingers up and down your tongue, sighing at the feeling of it. "Just like that. Good girl." He muttered, fingers parting so that you could lick in between them, wrapping your mouth around each one individually, driving him crazy.</p><p>When he decided that you'd done enough, he slowly pulled them away from you, moving them down in between your legs. He used his other hand to pull at the material, pushing it to the side, exposing you to him.</p><p>Your eyes fluttered shut, nervous and embarrassed to be so open in front of him.</p><p>"You're okay." Charlie comforted you, slick fingers running along your folds, dipping into your entrance. "You're so beautiful." He encouraged you, being able to sense that you were growing uncomfortable with the amount of attention he was giving you. "Does that feel good?" He asked you, trying to distract your shyness with his words.</p><p>You were thankful for that, you focused more on what he was saying to you and how he was touching you instead of the nerves that had been creeping up. "It feels so good." You assured him. You forced yourself to open your eyes, knowing that you didn't want to miss out on anything. Your time with him was too short. He looked so handsome, focusing on you.</p><p>Charlie cautiously delved inside of you, using the two fingers that had just been in your mouth. Rotating his fingers just how he needed to, his thumb went to your clit, starting off with gentle strokes against it. He grinned widely at your reaction, the way that your hips bucked up and the moan that escaped your chest.</p><p>"How do you want it? Do you like it when I go faster?" Charlie asked you, his motions picking up the pace, speeding up.</p><p>You gasped at the feeling and nodded quickly. "Just like that." You told him, shocked by how well he was able to touch you. "You're so good at it." You told him, having a moment of honesty even through your nerves and pleasure.</p><p>Charlie's heart swelled at that, at how sincere you were being. He continued to touch you at the same quick pace as he looked down at you with a smile.</p><p>You caught his happy expression and felt the need to validate him even more. "You're the only person who's ever made me cum. You're the only one who's touched me like this."</p><p>You have had sex with a few different people in the past but it had never been about <em>your</em> pleasure. It was just sex, no foreplay, no attempt to make you finish. Until Charlie, all of your sexual experiences had been someone using you.</p><p>Charlie couldn't help but groan at the realization. He felt this possessive feeling wash over him as he touched you, he was the first one.</p><p>"Do you like that?" You asked him, smiling at the way you were asking him the same thing he had just asked you a  few moments ago. "Do you like knowing that you're the only one who's ever made me feel this way? It's like my body belongs to you."</p><p>Charlie sighed happily, thumb rubbing your clit in fast motions. "I love that. I love making you feel good, I love knowing I'm the only one who has." He told you, his heart was pounding with how much he wanted you, how much he wanted to <em>own</em> you.</p><p>You whimpered at his words  and from the way that you felt your muscles beginning to tighten, the sensations working you up towards that peak. "Oh my god, Charlie." You grasped at the blanket underneath your body.</p><p>"Good girl, just like that." He coaxed you into pleasure, his deep voice was low and gentle, reassuring.</p><p>You gasped, eyes squeezing shut as the familiar feelings of your orgasm creeped up on you.</p><p>"Are you gonna cum, sweetheart?" Charlie asked you. He was staring at you so intently, feeling powerful at the way he was able to make you fall apart. When you whined and nodded at his question, he slowed his motions down just slightly. "Use your manners, what do you say?" He teased you, smirking.</p><p>Normally, you would've joked around with him or been upset by him being a smart ass. But you were so close, you'd do anything to get there. "Please." You said desperately, moving your hips to get more friction that he was ceasing to give you.</p><p>"Please, who?" Charlie asked you, his eyes dancing as he felt drunk from the control he had in this moment.</p><p>"Please, <em>daddy</em>." You whined, not even realizing what you had just said, not even meaning to do it. It just came out, it was the first thing that came to mind.</p><p>Charlie paused his stroking, surprised. He blinked as he processed what you just called him. He was expecting 'Mr. Barber', not that.</p><p>Your eyes opened, skin heating up in embarrassment. Oops. Your mouth opened, trying to come up with a way to apologize or explain yourself.</p><p>But then, Charlie's fingers began pumping in and out of you again, his thumb getting right back into the rhythm on your clit. "Say it again." He urged you, head spinning at how much it turned him on.</p><p>You let out a strained moan at the way he started touching you again, the same aching tenseness of your muscles occurring, your were right back to the closeness of your orgasm. You were still so embarrassed by the slip of your tongue but your desire to cum was stronger. "Please, daddy, I'm so close."</p><p>Charlie's eyes momentarily rolled back at the sound of it. It was the first time anyone had ever called him that in bed and although he knew he should probably find it depraved, too fucked up, he couldn't help how aroused it made him. "That's right. I'm your daddy. You want me to make you cum? You want daddy to let you finish?"</p><p>Your moans were rushed now,  "Yes, please, oh my god." You were almost hyperventilating, breathing so quick and heavy as you felt your orgasm hit you. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." You whined to yourself as you came, toes curling and hands squeezing.</p><p>Charlie continued to touch you as you came down from your orgasm, wanting you to be able to experience the pleasure of it for as long as possible. He was watching you in concentration, finding all of your little movements and noises intoxicating. He wanted you so  badly. He couldn't remember the last time someone made him this wild.</p><p>When he knew that you were finished, indicated to him by  the way you were wincing at the direct contact on your clit, he pulled his hand away. He didn't waste any time in moving off of the bed, beginning the task of removing his clothes. He needed you.</p><p>Your eyes were shut, catching your breath, trying to get yourself back down to Earth.</p><p>Charlie was naked now (only wearing his watch and his socks) as he grabbed your ankle, gently pulling you towards the edge of the bed so that your ass was up to the edge of it. "As pretty as you look, we need this off." He said to you breathlessly, pushing the thin straps off of your shoulders.</p><p>You still weren't completely coherent yet but you rolled over, knowing that he was going to have to untie it for you if he wanted to take it off.</p><p>Charlie sighed at the sight of you bent over the side of the bed like you were. He quickly untied the satin ribbon, hooking his fingers under the lace so that he could pull  the entire piece of lingerie off of your body.</p><p>When you were naked, you went to roll back over but Charlie held you in place, pressing you down onto the mattress.</p><p>"No, I want you like this." Charlie pleaded, hand stroking himself as he kept his other hand on your back, "Legs up." He directed you, gently moving to tap the outside of your thigh.</p><p>You did as he said, moving your knees onto the mattress. You were on your hands and knees now, your entrance at the perfect height, right at the same level as Charlie's cock as he stood behind you.</p><p>Charlie put a hand on your ass, gripping you there while he ran the head of his erection along your slick folds, coating it. "You want me?" He asked you, eyebrows furrowing as he watched his own motions, "You want daddy to fuck you?"</p><p>You were weak from that, from the way it sounded when he called himself that. "Please. I want you to fuck me, I need it." You assured him, speaking in a rushed tone, wanting him inside of you so badly.</p><p>Charlie's eyes were concentrated, intently watching the way that it looked as his large cock entered inside of you. You were so tight and warm, it made him cuss under his breath, your inner walls embracing him.</p><p>"Oh my god." You groaned, back arching to accommodate him easier, take as much of him as he wanted to give you.</p><p>Now that he didn't need to keep a grip on himself, because he was inside of you, he let his other hand go to your hip. He was gripping you there with both hands, guiding you up and down on his cock. "You sure you can handle this, sweetheart? I'm so much bigger than you, I'm so deep inside of you." He murmured.</p><p>When the two of you had been sexual previously, there had been a level of cautiousness but at this point, it was clear that you two wanted each other.  Charlie was more comfortable being this way with you, talking to you dirtier and giving into his more animal desires. You loved it, you thought it was so sexy, especially for someone who was usually so put together and polite to you.</p><p>"You're so big but I can take it, daddy, I promise." You whined, biting your lip at the words that left your mouth. Usually you'd feel somewhat self conscious to be so explicit but not right now, you were too into it.</p><p>"Good girl." Charlie sighed, finger tips in your soft hips as he assisted you in riding him the way that you were. "You're such a good girl for me, my perfect little girl." He rambled, starting to thrust his hips in time with the way he was moving you.</p><p>Your moans were loud, raising in volume each time that he entered you. He was so big and it was slightly painful but you loved the feeling of it.  You loved knowing that the man you were so attracted to was fucking you like this.</p><p>You slowly moved down from putting your weight on your hands so that you were resting on your forearms, pushing your ass higher into the air, letting him hit you from a different angle. You gasped at the feeling, face almost pressing against the hotel bed.</p><p>Charlie gasped as well, from how much deeper he was and from how amazing you looked, ass in the air for him. "<em>Fuck</em>." He said through gritted teeth, "This feels so good, just like this. Good job, baby, take it." He was talking mostly to himself, feeling the need to express how good this felt but being too caught up in the moment to focus on his actual words.</p><p>You two were both a mess, the sound of your ass and his hips colliding as well as the sounds of you two both moaning desperately was filling the hotel room. There was a gentle thud of the bed colliding with the wall as well.  You were probably pissing off the people next to you but neither of you even thought about that,  you were so caught up in each other.</p><p>You weren't sure how much time had passed. It could've been hours and you wouldn't have been surprised, your world was now just a combination of Charlie thrusting inside of you and the sounds of his perfect groans, the feeling of his hands on your hips and your ass. You could do this forever.</p><p>"I'm gonna cum, sweetheart. You're so fucking tight, you're so sexy, I can't help it. I'm gonna cum." Charlie was letting out a string of moaning rambles behind you, fingertips digging into your skin in a way that you were sure would leave faint marks behind.</p><p>You made a noise of approval, nodding your head, letting him know that you wanted him to finish. It made you feel so good to know that you were the reason for it.</p><p>A flash of realization went through Charlie's mind. He forgot to put a condom on. He made a small noise of irritation before he pulled out abruptly from you. His hand went right to his cock, stroking it. Although it didn't compare to being inside of you, he still finished, emptying himself, climaxing onto your back.</p><p>You were surprised at the feeling at first but then it made sense. He had been so ready to fuck you when he had, he didn't have time to put on protection. You hadn't noticed either.</p><p>Charlie caught his breath, coming down from the feeling. "Fuck, okay. Don't move, honey." He told you softly, moving away from you and into the bathroom so that he could get some tissues, a wet washcloth.</p><p>You almost swooned as you felt the way that his hand was trembling against you as he cleaned you up, taking special care to make sure you were all good. When you were sure that you were clean, you collapsed onto your stomach before rolling onto your back. You reached for the blanket on the bed and pulled it up over you, covering your naked body up.</p><p>Charlie joined you after putting his boxers on, relaxing on the bed with you. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking." He told you. You were confused and you looked at him in a way that indicated that. "The condom." He clarified.</p><p>You chuckled, shaking your head. "It's okay, Charlie. I'm on birth control."  You told him. You knew that it was mostly a respect thing for him. He valued you enough to use protection, knowing that it was something you probably preferred. But you liked how it felt to feel him inside of you and besides, you trusted him when he said that he hadn't had sex in a while, you felt safe with him.</p><p>He nodded, running a hand through his hair. He trusted you but he still felt bad.</p><p>You two laid in silence for a while, trying to reorient yourselves back into the real world after the fantasy world the two of you had previously just spent time in together.</p><p>"How about that food?" You asked, breaking the quietness, motioning towards the bag of dinner that Charlie had originally brought in when he first got back to the room.</p><p>Charlie couldn't help but laugh out loud at that.  He looked over at you affectionately, thankful that you were able to stop him from feeling bad about his actions, forgetting to wear a condom. "You read my mind." He told you, bending over to kiss you before sitting up in bed, scooting off of the side of it so that he could go over to the table that the to-go bag was sitting on.</p><p>You and Charlie spent the rest of the night in a similar way to how you spent it the night before: comfortably enjoying each other's company and getting to know each other.</p><p>You watched some tv together and the questions you asked each other got a little deeper than they did previously. Discussions about what movie scenes always made you cry, favorite memories growing up, and plans for the future. You were hesitant to admit it to yourself but you were already so obsessed with Charlie. Being able to have this connection with someone who you also considered your superior made you feel so special.</p><p>It was early when you both fell asleep wrapped up in each other. You were running on only a few hours of sleep and it felt amazing to be able to go to bed at a more normal time.</p><p>Unfortunately, sleep was only awarded to the two of you for an hour or so before you were broken from your slumber by the sound of Charlie's phone going off on the nightstand next to him.</p><p>You tried to ignore it, not ready to be awake, you didn't make any indication to move. You could sleep through his ringtone easily.</p><p>But Charlie was awake now, knowing he needed to take the call. He gave you a brief kiss on the top of your head before sliding out from your arms, leaving the bed and silencing his ringer.</p><p>Vaguely, you were able to recognize the fact that Charlie stepped out onto the hotel's balcony to answer it, not wanting to wake you up anymore than he already had by speaking in the same room as you.</p><p>The television was still playing, you had both fallen asleep before you had the chance to turn it off. So there was a light glow from the screen throughout the otherwise dark room and the sound of the volume was making it difficult for you to hear his conversation.</p><p>Charlie was out there for a few minutes before the sound of the show that was playing lowered in volume, making Charlie's voice clearer to you from your spot in bed. You couldn't help but listen in, eavesdropping.</p><p>"<em>I can't wait to hear all about it," </em>You were able to make out from the sound of his deep voice through the glass of the sliding door. <em>"Did Cassie ever get that dog that she was talking about? I couldn't remember what happened with that."</em></p><p>You frowned as you realized who he was talking to: Nicole.</p><p>You could hear Charlie laughing, responding to whatever his wife said to him on the other line. <em>"Yeah that sounds about right...Hey, is that Henry? Can you put him on the phone? I thought he'd be asleep."</em></p><p>You were fully awake now, rolling onto your back as you stared up at the ceiling with wide eyes. It was easy to get lost in Charlie when you were in this hotel room. It felt so separate from the real world. But now it felt like you were being smacked in the face. He was your boss and he was married and he was talking to his wife a few feet away from you.</p><p>You felt terrible.</p><p><em>"Hi, Henry...I did get that picture mom sent, that looked so fun. Are you ready to come back home?" </em>Charlie was talking to his son now, the mood in his voice elevating as he did so. <em>"It's not too cold yet, warmer than it was when you left for LA."</em></p><p>You felt like you were going to be sick as you thought back to everything you and Charlie had done together. The Barber family was falling apart and now you felt like you were a big part of the blame.</p><p>You felt bad enough about Nicole, how hurt she would be if she found out her husband was cheating on her, with their babysitter of all people. But hearing Charlie talk to his son made it even worse. You didn't have a father figure in your life growing up and the realization that your affair with Charlie might take away Henry's father too, made your eyes prick with tears.</p><p>You heard stories all the time, about how the 'other woman' ruined marriages. You always hated those types of people, you didn't understand how they could enter someone else's family and tear it apart. You had never seen yourself that way until now. It was like you were finally opening your eyes to how fucked up this was.</p><p>Shakily, you sat up in bed. You needed to get out of there. This was such a huge mistake. You couldn't stop thinking about how attention starved Henry was when you'd babysit him and how sweet Nicole always was to you. How could you ruin their lives in the way that you were?</p><p>You glanced out to the balcony. Charlie was leaning against the railing of it, phone up to his ear. He had his boxers on and a pajama shirt, hair messy from the short amount of sleep the two of you had just gotten. He had no idea that you were able to hear him from inside, let alone be so distraught over it.</p><p>It was difficult to see in the low light of the room but you managed to gather up all of your belongings, wiping your tears when your tears filled them every so often. You didn't want Charlie to know that you wanted to make an escape, you didn't want this to be a big deal. You just wanted to leave.</p><p>You felt trapped. You were already falling for Charlie and even if you ended it, you still would have to see him everyday at work. You hated the idea that you were going to have to quit and find something else. This internship with him was the exact type of job that made you move out to New York in the first place. Regardless of the circumstances, you would feel like such a failure working somewhere else.</p><p>You managed to pull some clothes on, not wanting to wander the streets in your tiny pajamas before you slung your bag over your shoulder. You could hardly think but you were almost certain that you had everything you brought with you.</p><p>Putting your shoes on, you looked back out to the balcony at Charlie.</p><p>He was in the same position, leaning over and on the phone but from this angle you were able to see the way that he was smiling, laughing at whatever was said to him. How could he talk to his family without feeling guilty about the fact that he was hiding in a hotel with his employee? You suddenly wondered if you knew him at all. You always felt so secure and safe with him but maybe this was all just an act.</p><p>You were spiraling and panicking. This was too much.</p><p>Trying to be as silent as possible, you left the hotel room, letting the door carefully shut behind you. By the time that you were out on the busy street (thankfully not the side of the street that Charlie was looking out over), you were crying openly. No one batted an eye at  you. That's just how it was in a busy city on a Saturday night.</p><p>Making your way into the direction of the subway, you apologized to the people whose shoulders you brushed against, unable to clearly see where you were going because of the tears in your eyes.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>Hanging up his phone, Charlie walked back into the hotel room. He was oblivious. He noticed you weren't in bed but he assumed you were in the bathroom. He settled onto the mattress, yawning and setting his phone back on the nightstand.</p><p>His eyes shut, wishing you were back in his arms to distract himself from the guilty sick feeling he had. He never felt it when you were with him, it all went away when you were touching him.</p><p>Several minutes passed and Charlie's eyes opened again with a frown, wondering what was taking so long. "You okay, sweetheart?" He called out to you in the direction of the bathroom.</p><p>When there was no response,  he strained his eyes in the dark, able to see that although the door looked like it might be shut, there was no light coming from inside the bathroom.</p><p>Charlie sat up in bed, turning on the lamp on the table beside him, where he had previously set down his phone. Blinking, adjusting to the light, he was able to see that your clothes that had previously been strewn about on the floor were gone. He looked beside him in bed, your phone charger was missing from the outlet as well. <br/><br/><br/></p><p>Slowly, and sadly, it dawned on Charlie where you were: Gone.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Save Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Your apartment had never felt so lonely.</p><p>    You tried lighting a calming candle, turning on your favorite tv show that always comforted you, poured yourself some wine and made a snack. But you couldn't enjoy any of it. You knew why: Charlie wasn't there with you.</p><p>    It had been a little over an hour since you arrived back at your place, since leaving Charlie alone at the hotel room that he bought the two of you. You felt like shit.</p><p>    You weren't sure how he was going to react when he saw that you were gone. You wondered if his feelings would be hurt or if he'd choose to push you away now. You were nervous that you fucked it up so badly that he wouldn't want to see you again. You weren't sure if you'd want to see him if he just decided to go without telling you beforehand.</p><p>    You'd never been in a situation like this before, sneaking around and hiding away with someone. You wished you would've handled it better when Charlie went on the balcony and answered a call from his wife and son, but it wasn't that simple.</p><p>    Sitting on your couch, half a bottle of wine in and half a bag of chips in as well, you decided to finally check your phone. It had been ringing the entire time you made your way to  the subway and it didn't stop when you arrived at your apartment either. You put the ringer on silent and set it face down on your coffee table and tried to forget it. But now that you were tipsy and sad, you wished Charlie was here with you and had the urge to finally read his messages.</p><p>    You took a deep breath as you turned the phone over, tapping at your screen so that it would light up. Five text messages and four missed calls. You swallowed hard, seeing your boss's name there. 'Charlie Barber'.</p><p>    <em>11:03- You left?</em></p><p>
  <em>    11:12:- You don't need to tell me why. I just want to know you're ok.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>    11:35- Do you need directions home?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>    11:41- Call me.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>    11:50- Please</em>
</p><p>    Your stomach twisted. It was a little after midnight now. He was probably still awake, he sent the last text not too long ago. You tried to imagine how he looked when he sent them. Half awake and messy haired, relying on the autocorrect  because his fingers were slightly too big for the keyboard on his screen.</p><p>    You picked up the stemmed glass of light pink liquid, tipping it back and finishing it. Fuck.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>    Charlie was sitting up in bed, the lamp lit up on the nightstand and a few empty beer bottles sitting beside it. He had some stupid talk show playing on tv with a celebrity guest who he'd never heard of. It didn't really matter, he wasn't paying attention.</p><p>    This entire weekend had made him uneasy in the first place. He never had to sneak around before and he'd never gone as far as buying an entire hotel room just to do so. He felt like a dirty old man, hiding away with his pretty little intern while his wife was away. And, even though that sounded bad, it was what happened.</p><p>    It was hard for him to imagine what someone like you would want with him. You were young and gorgeous and so sweet, he wasn't sure how anyone could dislike you. You could spend time with anyone you wanted. Charlie didn't understand why you chose to spend your time with an older, married man.</p><p>    So, when he got back into the room and saw that you left, he wasn't surprised but he was disappointed. He wasn't ready to be done with you. Charlie assumed that you came to your senses and realized that you were wasting your time with him, he wasn't what you wanted.</p><p>    Charlie wanted so badly to talk to you, so that you could explain yourself and maybe offer him some insight. He glanced over at the spot on the bed that you had previously been laying in, the blankets were still formed in a way that he could imagine your body nestled in them. His hand went there, wishing that his skin met your skin instead of the sheets below him.</p><p>    He wondered what work would be like on Monday after your unannounced departure. Would you both pretend like this weekend never happened? As much as it hurt him to think about, he thought that it might be for the best. This was all so fucked up.</p><p>    But at the same time, Charlie had such a good time with you, regardless of the sex you two had and how much he was attracted to you. You guys laughed together, <em>really</em> laughed. And you <em>really</em> got to know each other. It had been so long since he'd felt like this. Not since his 20's. He was so attracted to you and although he thought you were gorgeous, barely any of it had to do with how you looked.</p><p>    He sighed as he scooted off the side of the bed, sock clad feet shuffling across the hotel's carpeted floor so that he could make his way to the mini fridge across the way. He opened it up and grabbed a beer, out of the pack that he brought with him, and took the bottle opener to crack the top off.</p><p>    He brought it up to his lips and sighed as he took a long drink, pausing only when he heard his ringtone going off. Charlie's heart sped up as he glanced over to the alarm clock sitting near the bed. He knew it was too late for Nicole to be calling again. It had to be you.</p><p>    Charlie rushed over to the bed where his phone was sitting and he turned it over, staring at the way it looked for your name to be on his screen. He saved it originally when you became his intern and it was almost comical to him. It seemed so formal, just your first and last name. You were so much more to him now than you had been then.</p><p>    He cussed as his large fingers fumbled with pressing the green button to answer his phone, almost dropping the entire thing in the process. "Hi." Charlie said quickly, sighing in relief when he was sure that he answered it in time.   </p><p>    "Hi." You said, just as quickly as he did, thankful that he was awake still and answered your call.</p><p>    As it dawned on you both that you were finally speaking to each other again, ironically, the two of you were silent now.</p><p>There was so much to be said but neither of you knew how to do it, at least how to start it. You could hear the way that he was moving around the hotel room, pacing. And he could hear the soft sound of your tv in the background. You both just wanted to be together, it would make this so much easier.</p><p>A few more moments of silence, then:</p><p>    "I'm sorry." The two of you said in unison, speaking at the same time.</p><p>    Your heart fluttered at the deep rumble of a chuckle that you could hear from the other end, causing you to laugh softly as well. You two had a habit of saying the same thing at the same time. It always gave you butterflies.</p><p>    "You first." Charlie said, running a hand through his hair, unable to stop the smile on his lips. Things were weird between the two of you right now, he didn't know exactly how you felt. But just hearing your voice and sharing that small moment with you, reminded him of why he was involved in this risky situation in the first place. He had such a soft spot for you.</p><p>    "Oh. Okay, well..." You said in response to that, growing nervous that the attention was on your words now. "I'm sorry," You repeated, bringing your knees close to your chest on the couch you were sitting on. "I shouldn't have left."</p><p>    Charlie took a seat on the edge of the bed, hand on his chin. He didn't think it was fair for you to feel sorry. It wasn't your fault.  "Well, you left for a reason. Can you talk to me about it?"</p><p>    You frowned, fingers running over the blanket that was wrapped around you. What could you even say that wouldn't make him feel the shittiest man in the world? That wasn't your goal here. "I heard you talking...on the balcony, ya know?" You explained to him, unable to say his wife's name out loud. "It just hit me...You know, what we're doing... I had to get out, I wanted to escape. I shouldn't have though, I wish I was still there."</p><p>    Charlie ran a hand over his face. He wasn't stupid. He knew that was probably what happened. It was too much of a coincidence that you were gone when he came back in from talking to his wife. But still, it hurt in a different way to hear it come from your mouth.</p><p>    "I understand why you left. You don't need to apologize." Charlie assured you. He felt sick.</p><p>    You bit your lip in thought. "I'm still sorry."</p><p>    "Don't be... <em>I</em> want to say sorry for all of this. For our situation, for taking the call, for dragging you into the mess that is my life." Charlie said, knee jiggling in anxiety as he spoke. "It's not fair to you. I meant it when I said that I have connections for you, okay? If you ever want to leave the work you have with me, I'll recommend you to someone else. It might not be an internship with a director but it would be something in theatre still."</p><p>    You tried to imagine yourself working for someone other than Charlie and you couldn't. Even if it was dangerous, you couldn't stay away from him. "I don't want that. I like working with you, I love Exit Ghost." You said to him honestly. Even if he was someone completely different, if you weren't so attracted to him, you'd still love the environment there.</p><p>    Charlie smiled at the way that the name of his theatre company sounded on your lips. He didn't hear the name itself often out loud and it always gave him a rush of happiness, a feeling of being proud. "Well, I'm glad. I just want you to know that you aren't trapped with me. You know that right?"</p><p>    "I know that, Charlie. I don't feel trapped with you...I feel the opposite, really. I'm so grateful for the jobs you've given me." You admitted as you adjusted on the couch, holding your phone up to your ear. It felt so strange to talk this openly with him on the phone. It was something the two of you had never done before.</p><p>    "Okay." Charlie replied, relieved at your words.</p><p>    The two of you were silent again. In reality, you were only a little more than 15 minutes apart from each other in your locations but it seemed like you were in different worlds. He felt so far away.</p><p>    "Can I ask you something?" You asked, breaking the silence, feeling brave because of the alcohol you had and because of the way you felt the need to fill the slightly awkward silence.</p><p>    "Sure." Charlie said to you as he made his way back onto the bed into a comfortable position, resting his back against the headboard.</p><p>    You took a few seconds to think about how you wanted to ask it. Your fingers fiddled with a few stray strings that were hanging from your blanket. "Why do this? I mean, not with me specifically but...Why do this at all? Isn't <em>she</em> enough?"</p><p>    Your question made Charlie's stomach twist. He knew what you meant by it. On paper, he had the perfect life. A wife who had similar interests, a son, a job that some people would kill for. But it wasn't enough. Admittedly, Charlie was selfish. He knew he was. But it was more than that. He knew that he deserved to be happy. And, right now, he was miserable.</p><p>    "It's complicated. It's hard for me to explain." Charlie said. He took a long sip of beer, leaning his head back on the headboard. "I feel like...I try so hard and it's never good enough. Do you know what I mean?"</p><p>    You opened your mouth to answer but you weren't exactly sure how.</p><p>    Charlie ignored your silence. His question was rhetorical anyways.</p><p>    "Me and Nicole have never been perfect. Even from the beginning, the honeymoon phase and stuff, there were big differences between us that we chose to ignore. We fought all the time then we'd just pretend that we didn't..It all just happened so quickly between us. I never wanted to get married, <em>not really</em>, then we had Henry and I was just stuck in this life that I never wanted and never planned for." Charlie explained, eyes up on the ceiling. He never spoke like this, he never talked about himself or his feelings. No one ever asked.</p><p>    "Don't get me wrong, I love Henry. I <em>love</em> being his dad." Charlie said to you quickly, realizing how bad it sounded. "But the lifestyle that I have...It was never what I envisioned." He admitted. "I went from being on top of the world, a big upcoming director with all of these options and opportunities, to...what I have now." He wasn't able to hide the sadness in his voice,</p><p>    He didn't regret his marriage with Nicole because even in the hardest times, it did bring him his son. But at the same time, the idea that he could be free from the heaviness he felt from his marriage, was so appealing to him.</p><p>    You listened to him intently. You loved hearing him talk. He didn't feel comfortable being open like this very often but every now and then, you were able to get him to start ranting or rambling about something important to him and it was always so fascinating. This was no different. You just wished the subject matter wasn't so sad.</p><p>    "Do you love her?" You asked him.  You weren't even sure why you were asking. You knew his answer would hurt you.</p><p>    "Yes." Charlie replied, almost instantly, it wasn't difficult for him.</p><p>"I do love her. We've been through so much and really, I like who she is as a person." He admitted as his voice trailed off. "But I'm not in love with her.  I don't think we've been in love for years now...Nicole's an amazing woman and there's a lot that I admire her for but she isn't an amazing wife. Not for <em>me</em>, anyways. We've never been good for each other but it's been worse lately."</p><p>You understood what he meant even though it wasn't something you'd actually experienced yourself before.</p><p>"I know that you're probably wondering why we don't just separate but it's not that simple. If we were able to just walk away from this, I'm sure we would. But there's Henry and the apartment and everything that's in our name together..." He sighed, overwhelming himself.</p><p>"When did it get really bad?" You asked him, frowning, wanting to know more. These were things that you were always wanting to ask but you never thought you'd have the chance.</p><p>Charlie was grateful for your interest. It felt so much better to speak like this and get it out in the open, even if this was all technically in secret. It was such a weight on his shoulders to carry this around with him.</p><p>"I'm not sure but I just feel like everything fell apart at once. Or maybe we just realized it at once." Charlie admitted, thinking about it. He sort of forgot that he was even speaking out loud. He was just thinking, realizing things as the words tumbled from his lips. "I wake up, no matter how many hours of sleep I get, and I'm just so exhausted...I put so much energy in everything around me. I'm always doing what I can, thinking about ways to save my marriage, save my family..." His words faded off, swallowing hard.</p><p>    He shook his head at himself, knowing what he was going to say but unable to stop himself from doing so. "It just hurts to know that there's no one here to save <em>me</em>."</p><p>    You could hear the hesitance in his voice, the way his words cracked just slightly with emotion. It hurt you, to hear someone who you admired so much feeling so weak.</p><p>    "Would you let me?" You asked him in a small voice. "I wanna save you, Charlie. I'm here for you, I'm on your side." You were nervous to be so affectionate with him. You two had sex and he was always so sweet to you but you'd never really talked about your feelings for him. It was more than just physical attraction for you.</p><p>    Charlie was speechless, staring at the ceiling with widened eyes. He admitted all of that to you and you were still on the phone with him, you were still there willing to do this with him and be there for him. He couldn't believe it.</p><p>    "Are you sure you want that, sweetheart?"  He asked you in a far off voice. "This isn't easy for me and it won't be easy for you. I took that call tonight but what if I have to take a call in front of you again? What's going to happen when you're babysitting and you have to see us together? Can you handle all of this? I don't know if I'm worth the stress."</p><p>    You swallowed hard. You adjusted the phone in your hands, trying not to imagine how he probably looked speaking to you like this on the hotel bed. "You're worth it, Charlie. I know I left without telling you but I won't do that again. I can handle this." You said to him and although you were anxious about it, you really did mean it.</p><p>    Not only did you have feelings for Charlie but you also just had this urge to take care of him, just like he always made sure that he took care of you. You always felt so lonely being in a new city on your own. But Charlie was lonely too, it didn't matter how long he'd been in New York or the fact that he had a family, he was still so alone. He needed you and really, you needed him too.</p><p>    Despite himself, a grin formed on Charlie's face. What the two of you were doing was so wrong but in moments like this, he couldn't help but notice how <em>right</em> it felt. He was so happy. "I believe that."</p><p>    You lifted the phone away from your ear so that you could see what time it was. You usually stayed up so much later than this but you were so tired right now. Today and tonight had been eventful. You tried to stifle your yawn but it slipped out.</p><p>    Charlie heard it. "It's late. You should go to sleep, honey."  He said in a soft but stern tone.</p><p>    You were going to argue with him because you'd rather stay awake and talk to him than go to bed. But then another yawn slipped out and you knew he was right. You grabbed your blanket and started moving from the couch over to your bed, settling on your mattress instead. "Are you going to go to bed too?" You asked him, trying to imagine it.</p><p>    Charlie thought about it. He was tired but he had so much on his mind. "I think so." He replied to you though he wasn't really sure if that was the case. He didn't want you to worry.</p><p>    You brought your blanket up to your chin, getting comfortable. "Goodnight, Charlie. I had such a good time with you this weekend. I'm sorry again for cutting it short."</p><p>    "Don't worry about it." He assured you. He felt bad that you felt so guilty about reacting the way you did. "Thank you for staying with me and for letting me talk to you like this tonight." He said to you, "Thanks for being here." He added in a softer tone, embarrassed almost.</p><p>    "Anytime." You grinned, heart thumping.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>    You went to sleep with a smile on your face, something that you didn't think would happen when you first left the hotel room earlier that night.  Talking on the phone with Charlie had felt so odd to you, it was a medium of communication that you never considered using with him. But somehow, it had alleviated some of the pressure of the heavy conversation that the two of you had.</p><p>    In a way, you were almost glad that you left the hotel in the way that you did. If you hadn't, you two might not have ever spoken like that. You felt like you knew him so much better now. And of course, you had pretty much shared your emotional feelings towards him and he accepted them. He was happy about them, <em>actually</em>.</p><p>    For the second time that night, you were interrupted from your peaceful sleep.</p><p>    This time, as you blinked and processed the situation, you realized it was because of a knock coming from your door.</p><p>    You quickly got out of bed, wrapping your blanket tightly around you as you did so. You never got any visitors, especially not at this hour. In the back of your mind, you were already making the assumption that it was a drunk neighbor who thought this was their door or something along those lines.</p><p>    As you stood on your toes to look through the peephole, you saw how very wrong you were. Standing there, hands in his pockets and a worried look on his face, was Charlie.</p><p>    You ran your hands through your hair, over your face, glancing all over yourself. You would've preferred to look a little more presentable but there wasn't much of an option right now. At least your pajamas matched, regardless of how sleepy you knew you looked.</p><p>    You opened the door, heart almost stopping at the wide eyed, relieved look that Charlie gave you.</p><p>    Charlie wasn't sure if you'd wake up from him stopping by but he was hoping so. If he made his way here for no reason as at all, he knew he'd feel really stupid going back to the hotel alone, or worse, going back to his apartment. He looked you over and bit the inside of his cheek at the way you were all wrapped up in your blanket, bare legs showing in your tiny pajamas.</p><p>    "Charlie," You said in surprise, hand on the doorframe, "What are you doing here?" You asked him, though you weren't complaining. Seeing him standing in your apartment building was so odd to you. He was standing in the same spot that you did multiple times a day and it felt so intimate.</p><p>    Charlie removed his hands from his pockets and he wasn't really sure why, he didn't know what to do with them so they settled on his hips, staring at you. "I couldn't sleep." He said simply. He was embarrassed now. When he got everything ready and left to come to your apartment, it just seemed like the correct thing to do, he didn't question why he was doing it. But now, seeing you in front of him he wondered if this was a mistake.</p><p>You were silent for only a moment but Charlie tried to fill the silence, not wanting to give you the chance to tell him to go away.</p><p>"Oh," He said as he began pushing the sleeve of his shirt up. "And you left this at the hotel. I thought you might need it so I wanted to drop it off." He was smirking as he said this, holding his wrist out to you. He was wearing your hair tie. "I knew it was important." He added, glancing up at you with a knowing grin.</p><p>He was fully aware that a hair tie was not worthy of a trip over to your apartment. In fact, you both knew that if he didn't give it back to you, you wouldn't have even noticed it was missing, you had so many of them laying around your apartment. But still, the fact that he was pretending to use that as an excuse to see you was hilarious (and <em>adorable</em>) to you.</p><p>Not to mention, seeing Charlie standing there in his dress pants and shirt with the slight spattering of stubble on his face from not shaving while staying at the hotel and your little hair tie on his large wrist, made you inexplicably happy.</p><p>"Oh my god, you're a lifesaver." You teased him, smiling big. You reached forward and grabbed his wrist, looking up at him quickly with wide eyes before you hooked your finger under the band and slipped it over his hand.</p><p>Charlie was grinning down at you, feeling a lot less anxious now that you were touching him and appreciating his stupid little joke of bringing this to you.</p><p>You put it on your own wrist, noting the way that it was looser now that he'd been wearing it. You opened up the door wider, giving him more room. "I guess it would be rude of me not to invite you in after you did such a big favor for me."</p><p>"I was hoping you'd say that. I really didn't wanna drag this bag around with me all over the city." Charlie replied and when he bent down to grab something you realized that he had his overnight bag propped up on the wall that was out of eyesight for you, indicating to you that he wanted to stay the night.</p><p>You bit your lip to stop from nervously giggling as he made his way into your apartment. It wasn't the first time that he was there with you but still, you felt a small bit of shame. You made it look nice and you had so many personal touches that gave it a bit of life but really, it was extremely small and the building itself was old and neglected in some ways.</p><p>In his nice clothes and polished confidence, Charlie looked so out of his element in a place like this. It didn't help that he was just so fucking big and everything in your studio apartment was small.</p><p>Charlie didn't mind your apartment, in fact he actually really liked it. He wasn't sure if it was the way you always had it warmly lit, all of your cute little decorations, or just the fact that he knew it belonged to you, but it made him feel calm.</p><p>"Sorry to wake you up. We were both so tired and it's late." He said to you, setting his bag down on one of your two seats at your kitchen table before he shrugged his jacket off and hung it on the back of the same chair.</p><p>You made your way over to him, tossing your blanket onto your bed as you did so. "Don't apologize." You paused when you were right in front of him. "I'm so glad you're here." You admitted to him, unable to stop the excited look in your eyes.</p><p>It didn't matter that he was a mostly put together and reserved middle aged man, as Charlie stared down at you and the happiness on your face, he couldn't stop the butterflies forming in his chest. He never thought he'd feel this way again, he thought it was too late for him until you showed up in his life.</p><p>He put a hand on your cheek, stroking your skin with his thumb. "I'm glad too...I couldn't stay away from you." Charlie said softly. It was true. As he tossed and turned in bed, he kept thinking about the fact that he might not get the chance to have a night with Nicole and Henry away again. He didn't want to waste it all alone, he wanted to take advantage of the moment with you.</p><p>You nervously began playing with your thumbs, quietly cracking your knuckles as you met his gaze. He glanced down at your fidgety movements and used his other hand to hold both of yours in place, able to grip both of them at once, calming you down.</p><p>"Is it okay if I spend the night with you?" He asked you, "Will you let me sneak into bed with you and hold you? I slept so well with you last night." Charlie was speaking so gently and so softly that if you weren't so close to him you weren't sure if you'd be able to hear him.</p><p>"You might be too big for my bed." You admitted with a small chuckle, "But I want that. I always get cold in the middle of the night but I was so warm with you. You're gonna spoil me, I'll want to sleep with you all the time. " You added, the laughter dying off because of how sincere you were being with that answer.</p><p>Charlie hummed under his breath, thumb ghosting over your lips. "But I like spoiling you, sweetheart. Don't you like it too?" His brown eyes widened slightly at his question, taking in the way that you reacted to it.</p><p>Your hands flexed inside of his, instantly wanting to nervously play with your fingers at how that statement made you feel. "I do like it." You admitted, "I just wish you could be around to take care of me all the time." You said to him, blinking through the embarrassment.</p><p>Charlie agreed. He wished he could do this every single night. If it were up to him he'd sneak away and lock himself away in your apartment with you all the time. "Well let me take care of you right now, okay? I don't want you to worry about anything, just enjoy our time together."</p><p>You realized he was right. It wasn't going to do any good for you to stress about what might happen in the future or whether or not you two would get this opportunity again. You'd beat yourself up if you didn't enjoy the time you had now with him.</p><p>"How about this? Come here, honey." Charlie muttered to himself before he bent down and picked you up. You instantly wrapped your legs around his waist as he held you up by your thighs and ass, moving over to your small bed.</p><p>You watched the concentrated look on his face as he maneuvered onto your bed, sitting on the end of it and slowly laying back so that his head was resting on your single pillow. He kept you in the position you had been in with you straddling his waist, sitting up.</p><p>He absentmindedly ran his hands over your bare thighs, sighing at the soft skin under his touch and the way that you looked on top of him like this. "What did you call me earlier, again?" Charlie asked you, his eyes dancing almost mischievously.</p><p>You were confused, thinking back to earlier that night. It all felt so long ago. Your skin heated up as it dawned on you, his expression suddenly making sense. "I don't know." You lied to him, not wanting to repeat the fact that you called him 'daddy' in the heat of the moment.</p><p>"Aw, come on. I think you know, sweetheart." Charlie said in a soothing voice, smirking. "Remember when I was making you use your manners and say please for me? You said something else too. You called me something for the first time." He squeezed your thighs gently. "I really liked it, I wanna hear you say it again."</p><p>You bit your lip, your hands resting on his soft sweater. "Um," You started to try to say it but got too afraid. When you made eye contact with him and he gave you an encouraging smile, you took a deep breath. "Daddy..." You said quietly.</p><p>Charlie groaned with a smile on his face, his fingers digging into your thighs. " That's it. Good girl." He praised you. "You want daddy to spoil you tonight?" He asked you, chest rising and falling quicker at the dirty way he was speaking to you. It didn't make him nervous in the way that it made you but it did give him a rush, it had been so long for him to be this open and enjoy sex like this.</p><p>You subconsciously moved your hips against his, gripping his shirt slightly. "I do." You answered him.</p><p>"Then come here. I want you to sit on daddy's face, I wanna make you cum." Charlie said to you and hearing that statement come from his deep voice made you shiver in the best way.</p><p>"I've never done that before." You said to him, but the way your hips were moving quicker against him let the both of you know that it was something you wanted to do. It made you nervous, to do something with him that would leave you feeling so exposed. "What if I'm too heavy?" You asked him and couldn't stop the giggle that came out. You didn't really mean it, you just were making jokes to alleviate your nervousness.</p><p>Charlie laughed too, shaking his head at you. You were so cute.  "Don't be stupid, sweetheart, look at how much bigger I am than you." His hands ran up and down your legs. "Be a good girl for me. I want you to take off your little shorts and panties and come over here."</p><p>It was always so surprising for you to see how easily Charlie was always able to calm your racing thoughts and insecurities. You moved slightly off of his lap so that you could do as he told you, slipping off your pajama shorts and underwear.</p><p>"That's right, just like that." Charlie encouraged you, keeping his eyes up on  yours so that you didn't feel uncomfortable with him looking you over. "Let me taste you." He said to you, putting his hands on your thighs again so that he could guide you towards him.</p><p>Your heart was pounding as you cautiously moved your knees up by either side of his head, putting yourself into the position that he asked you to be in.</p><p>Charlie gripped your hips now, bringing you up closer so that you were hovering over his mouth, right where he wanted you. "You're so beautiful, you know that? I can get hard just by looking at you. I don't know how I get any work done with you around." He teased you.</p><p>You grinned and looked down at him, ignoring your self consciousness because of the praise that he was giving you.</p><p>While keeping eye contact with you, Charlie leaned upwards and parted his mouth, his tongue sliding out so that he could press it against your wetness that was placed right in front of him. He made a low noise of approval, he loved the way you tasted.</p><p>You moaned, blinking rapidly at the feeling of Charlie's tongue and lips on your clit and the way that he looked while doing so. You began rocking your hips in time with his motions, wanting more of the feeling.</p><p>He had his eyes shut for a few minutes as he ate you out, taking his time to enjoy it. You were lucky that Charlie was the first person to give you head because he was so good at it and the best part was, he <em>loved</em> it. He was so enthusiastic about it, moving against you quickly and just the way you liked it, groaning the entire time.</p><p>You gasped when he started circling and stroking your clit in a way that sent a shock of pleasure throughout your body. Your toes curled up and back arched and you lost your balance slightly at how much it affected you.</p><p>Charlie had been paying extra attention to your body and your reactions, wanting to make sure that he was doing whatever felt the best for you. So when you stumbled forward, he instinctively reached his hands up, allowing you to grab onto them to steady yourself. While doing that, he didn't stop the way he was lapping at your clit, knowing that he was doing what you needed, he didn't want to interrupt that.</p><p>"Oh my god, Charlie." You whined, squeezing his hands as he interlocked his fingers with yours.</p><p>"You like it, sweetheart? That feel good? Tell daddy." Charlie grunted out, barely able to speak because of the way he wasn't able to move very much out from underneath  you, he didn't want to.</p><p>"It feels <em>so</em> good." You moaned, tilting your head back, "You're so good at it, daddy, please don't stop." You said to him in your cute little breathy voice that made him squeeze your hands back, making a noise of admiration.</p><p>For the next several minutes, Charlie continued to move his mouth and tongue against you. He felt like he was in heaven, his girl on top of him like this.</p><p>"Oh, fuck. Right there." You requested, bolder with what you wanted because the rush that was creeping up on you was more urgent than your insecurities.</p><p>Charlie continued his motions, not speeding up or slowing down, doing exactly what he had been so that you could cum for him.</p><p>Your toes curled in pleasure, your orgasm that had been building up inside of you, fully crashing over you, taking over your body. You weren't sure if you were moaning loud or saying words of surprise or maybe even saying Charlie's name. You were so caught up in how intense it was.</p><p>Charlie did his best to hold you in place against his tongue but you were shivering and shaking so much from the pleasure. He let you ride out your orgasm, staying on top of him for as long as you needed.</p><p>When you were recovering from it, you could barely stay on your knees in the way that you were because of how much that had just taken out of you. Charlie could sense it and he put his hands on your waist and helped you move farther down his body so that he was able to move out from under you, letting you lay down on the mattress.</p><p>"You want me to fuck you now? You're so wet for me." Charlie cooed to you as he stood up from the bed. When you made a noise of pleading, wanting him to fuck you, he began taking his clothes off. "Just lay down for me. Relax and I'll make you feel good."</p><p>You were in a haze, staring over at him as you tried to catch your breath. He looked so good as he got out of his clothes. He held up a condom and gave you a grin, indicating to you that he remembered it this time which made you lazily chuckle. God, you were obsessed with this man.</p><p>When he was naked, Charlie moved back on top of you, kissing you. "Can you taste yourself, sweetheart?" He asked you, hand stroking himself as he lined up with your entrance.</p><p>You nodded at his question, embarrassed at the fact that you could indeed taste yourself on his lips. It did turn you on though, you liked it.</p><p>Charlie hummed, rubbing the tip of his cock against your wetness. "You taste so good, I love eating your pussy." He told you and before he could say much more, he thrust himself inside of you.</p><p>You both gasped at the feeling, at how deep he was able to get even in the first try because of how relaxed and wet you were for him. Your arms wrapped around his neck, holding him down close to you as his hips started rocking.</p><p>Charlie and you did this for a while, not saying much but just moaning and wrapping yourselves up in each other. You were both breathing so heavy and your hearts were beating so quickly. It was such a rush every time that the two of you did this. You knew how dangerous it was but it just felt so natural and right.</p><p>He had previously been putting his weight on his forearms but he shifted so that he was resting his palms on your bed, able to fuck you from a different angle, hitting your walls in a way that made your eyes flutter shut, loving it.</p><p>"You're so tight, sweetheart. You feel perfect."  Charlie praised you, moaning as he continued to fuck you. "Can I try something? I think you'll like it." He asked you.</p><p>You instantly nodded, telling him yes.  You'd do anything he asked, you thought.</p><p>He hooked a hand under the crook of your knee, pulling your leg up as he scooted up on the bed. Carefully, Charlie moved your leg so that your calf was resting on his shoulder where he wrapped his hand around you there to hold it in place.</p><p>You both moaned loudly at the feeling, at how much more of him you were able to take when you were in his position.</p><p>Not only did he want to do this so that he could be deeper inside of you but also because his long legs had been hanging off the bed uncomfortably. Charlie was definitely not made for the tiny bed you owned.</p><p>"Oh my god." You whined, jumping slightly when Charlie's free hand found your clit, rubbing it gently which directly contrasted the way he was furiously thrusting inside of you.</p><p>"Call me daddy again. Tell me how good it feels. I wanna hear it." Charlie begged you, his hips moving at a quick pace. He was getting so close already. You had that effect on him.</p><p>"I love it, daddy. You feel so big inside of me, it feels so good." You said to him, keeping  your eyes focused on his, loving the way that he looked as his fluffy hair fell into his eyes from above you.</p><p>"I <em>am</em> so big inside of you, sweetheart. I'm so proud of you. You're taking it so well, you're taking all of me, my good little girl." Charlie continued to move his fingers on your clit, somehow in perfect rhytm with the way that he was fucking you.</p><p>"I'm gonna cum again, Charlie." You whimpered, feeling the familiar feeling inside of you. You were surprised by this,  you usually were too sensitive to do so but you couldn't help yourself with him.</p><p>Charlie's heart soared at that, that he was able to make you cum twice in one night especially so quickly back to back. "Wait for me, I wanna cum with you."  He said to you, letting him ride you even quicker now that he knew he could let himself finish soon.</p><p>As close as you were,  you nodded at his request. You wanted to do that with him, it would make you so happy.</p><p>The two of you continued this for several more minutes. Each time that Charlie could feel you begin to tighten and tense up on him, he'd move his fingers away from your clit and tell you 'not yet' or 'not until I say, honey'. It was torturous but you liked how in control he was. Your orgasm was up to him, not you and you liked it that way.</p><p>Finally, you could tell that Charlie's thrusts began happening in a more sloppy rhythm, various levels of deepness as he did so. "Fuck, okay, right now. I want you to cum right now." He growled out, squeezing your calf. He was right there.</p><p>You kept your eyes open and on him as you let yourself finally cum, back arching up from the mattress and hands gripping the blankets underneath you tightly. You felt like you were seeing stars.</p><p>Charlie came too, watching you intently as he did so, not wanting to miss out on any noises or reactions you were making as you finished yourself, they were his favorite. After he filled the inside of the condom, he still continued to pump in and out of you in light motions, not wanting to end this feeling right away.</p><p>After a few moments, he pulled out and collapsed on the bed next to you. He put an arm underneath your waist and pulled you in against him, kissing the top of your head as he did so.</p><p>"That was amazing." You breathed out to him, hand going to his chest and face burrowing in the crook of his neck where you placed a gentle kiss.</p><p>"It was." Charlie agreed with a big smile as he ran his fingers up and down your back in a soothing motion.</p><p>It became clearer to him than ever in that moment.</p><p>Charlie wasn't sure <em>how</em> but he just knew that it was true:  You were going to save him.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Difficult</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Charlie's back hurt. It really fucking hurt. And his shoulders did and somehow his hips too? That was a new one for him. But despite the pain, when he woke up he had a large sleepy smile on his face as he pulled you closer into his arms.</p><p>Your bed was way too small for him, even if you weren't sleeping with him, he would've been uncomfortable on the mattress that was a fraction of the size of his at home. He slept on the couch often (not by choice) but it was different because he could prop his legs up and move however he wanted. With your body all wrapped up in his and his feet hanging off of the bed, it wasn't exactly a luxurious sleep.</p><p>But Charlie loved it. If it was up to him, he'd invest in a good chiropractor and spend every single night with you in your small bed.</p><p>He tried shifting slightly but it was impossible, you were practically on top of him and you looked so peaceful. He didn't want to wake you up. Instead, Charlie ran his fingers gently through your hair and pressed his lips to your forehead, sighing comfortably.</p><p>It was raining gently outside and the sound of the drops hitting the pavement and the gentle hum of the city on the other side of your window was calming to him. It had been so long since he felt this way, Charlie almost forgot what it felt like to be content.</p><p>He thought back to the night before and how disappointed he'd been when he saw you weren't in bed with him. When the two of you first started this <em>'relationship', </em>it had been just an avenue for him to relieve his lust. Charlie wanted you so badly and he didn't care about how messed up it was, he had to have you.</p><p>But it was different now. There were feelings involved and he was in too deep to write it off as just a few moments of passion. It was more complicated because he couldn't tell himself that this was a mistake, that he gave into his urges that had been abandoned for so long. He felt deeply towards you and he didn't think that was possible for him at this point in his life.</p><p>It was a scary thing, to take such a big risk by being with you. But it never felt like the wrong thing to do, despite all of the circumstances. Most of the time, he felt like he was just existing. Getting up to go to work then coming home and fulfilling his duties there as well. No praise, no excitement. With you, he just felt so fucking <em>alive</em>.</p><p>You stirred in your sleep, making a small noise that resembled a yawn as you buried your head further into Charlie's chest, the soft material of his pajama shirt. You were starting to wake up but you weren't sure if you wanted to yet. Waking up meant eventually saying goodbye to Charlie and goodbye to your weekend alone together. You didn't want it to end.</p><p>Charlie looked down at you, letting a relaxed smile fall onto his lips when he saw that you were beginning to wake up. He rubbed your back gently and pressed a kiss to your forehead. "Good morning, sweetheart." He said to you in a voice deep with sleep.</p><p>You made a 'hmph' noise as you wrapped your arm around him and pressed your face in against his chest to block out the light sneaking through from the gap in your curtain. You didn't want it to be the morning, you wanted to go back in time to last night when he showed up at your door with your hair tie around his wrist.</p><p>"Is someone grumpy?" He teased you with a low chuckle. When you responded with a similar noise of frustration, he dug his fingertips into your side gently, tickling you. "Come on, honey. I thought you'd be in a better mood to wake up with me."</p><p>After your laughter died down from the way he was tickling you, you moved so that you could face him, moving some of his soft hair away from his eyes. "I love that you're in my stupid little bed with me. I just don't want you to leave." You yawned, your smile slowly falling. "I don't want to go back to pretending you're just my boss."</p><p>Charlie's grin faltered as well, finger tips running up and down your back, sighing. "I know." He agreed, dejected.</p><p>There was a certain thrill when it came to sneaking around with you. Calling you into his office so that he could kiss you without anyone around or discreetly touching your hand when he handed you coffee in the morning. But after being so open with you in the hotel room over the weekend, he realized how much better it would be to always be that way with you, no hiding.</p><p>"What time do you have to go back home?" You asked him, unable to stop yourself from moving your fingers back into his messy mop of hair playing with a few strands.</p><p>He hummed at the feeling of your touch, soothing on his scalp. "I need to be at the airport at six tonight. I should probably get home a few hours before that." He told you, being vague on purpose as to not hurt your feelings. Charlie would have to go home and wash all his clothes from the weekend, make the house look more lived in, get rid of any evidence that he spent his time at a hotel.</p><p>You nodded, thinking about it. You were going to suggest that he do all of that, wanting him to be careful. But you held your tongue. You didn't have that much time with him and you didn't want to ruin the moment. "So you'll hang out here for a little bit with me?" You asked with wide eyes, practically batting your eyelashes at him.</p><p>Charlie grinned widely, feeling overwhelmed with this feeling of affection towards you. If he were a cartoon, he'd have big heart eyes as he looked down at you and your pleading face. "If you want me to." He said to you, holding you close.</p><p>"I think so." You teased him, pretending to think about it. Then, you moved away from him, getting off of the bed. "I'm going to brush my teeth and then I'm going to kiss you a lot. Like, maybe too much, you might get annoyed with me."</p><p>Charlie chuckled, happy. He sat up slowly and flexed his arms over his head, wincing in pain. "Doubtful. I'll join you." He replied, stiffly scooting to the edge of the mattress. "If I can get up." He muttered then held his hands out to you. "Help me out, honey."</p><p>You paused and had to bite the inside of your cheek to keep from laughing out loud. The urge to make an 'old man' joke was so strong but somehow you had the strength to keep your mouth shut, grabbing onto his large hands.</p><p>Charlie narrowed his eyes at you, "Don't even think about it, little girl." He grunted, knowing that you were going to make fun of him based on the look on your face.</p><p>You helped him stand up, pulling at his hands to do so and helping him steady himself. He took a deep breath, stretching and flexing his muscles that had been cramped up all night once he was on his feet.</p><p>"Remind me to get us a hotel again next time we do this." He teased you as he made his way over to his overnight bag to grab his toothbrush from it. The fact that he anticipated a 'next time' was not lost on you. "As much as I like your apartment, your bed isn't my favorite."</p><p>You walked into your bathroom, beginning to brush your teeth, peeking your head out of the doorway to watch him approach you. "Maybe you shouldn't be so big then. Problem solved." You retorted before letting out a surprised yelp at the way he came up behind you to grab your waist.</p><p>Charlie's hand squeezed you there, making you laugh in discomfort, muffled from the way you had your toothbrush on your teeth. "You're being kind of a brat this morning, aren't you, sweetheart?" He asked you with a smirk, dipping down to kiss your cheek.</p><p>You shrugged, making a noise of 'meh' but looked up at him mischievously.</p><p>Charlie's smirk didn't falter, bending down next to your ear as he reached in front of you to get his brush wet. "You were such a good girl last night. What happened to that?" He asked you in a voice that sent a shiver up your spine.</p><p>You made the mistake of making eye contact with him in the mirror, noticing the way he was looking at you. It made your skin heat up and you instantly moved towards the running faucet, spitting into the sink so that you could get out of the bathroom before you got any more nervous than you were. You weren't sure you'd ever get over the nerves of being openly sexual with him. You were so attracted to him.</p><p>Charlie watched you grow shy and he couldn't help the affectionate laugh that came from his chest. He didn't consider himself to be exactly <em>smooth</em> when it came to dirty talk, it had been so long since he'd even attempted to do it, he was out of practice. But he was always able to make you squirm and for <em>that</em>, he was proud of himself.</p><p>As he finished up in the bathroom, you opened up one of your drawers, pulling some clothes out of it. You weren't really sure what the protocol was to spend the morning with your boss who you were having an affair with but you needed something to occupy yourself. Besides, you suddenly felt underdressed in your skimpy pajamas.</p><p>"What are you doing?" Charlie asked as he walked back into the single room that was your entire apartment.</p><p>"Getting dressed." You answered him, digging through the drawer of shirts.</p><p>"I don't think so." He muttered, coming up behind you and putting a hands over yours to stop you from your searching. "Keep these on for me," He said softly, fingers of his free hand hooking under the straps of your tank top, running along the material of it, "They're so cute on you."</p><p>You sighed at the feeling of him pressed behind you, tilting your head back to rest against his chest. "They're embarrassing, I've had them for so long. I didn't think you'd see them." You told him.</p><p>You didn't know Charlie was coming over the night before so it hadn't been a problem when you put on your matching pajama set with cute little cartoon bunnies printed all over them, something you only wore in private.</p><p>"No, I like them." Charlie assured you, warm hands going to your bare shoulders, massaging you in a way that made you sigh softly. You'd do anything he asked you when he spoke to you like this. "My pretty girl." He hummed to you, pressing a kiss on the top of your head.</p><p>Butterflies exploded in your stomach. <em>His</em> girl...No, not just his girl. But his <em>pretty</em> girl.</p><p>You relaxed into his touch, suddenly not concerned with the way your pajamas looked because he was rubbing the tense knots in your shoulders and speaking to you in his low, deep voice and it was all so distracting. His hands were so big against you, they always were, and it would always make you weak in the knees.</p><p>"Maybe you should get a pair for yourself then. Pink's really your color." You teased him, smirking even through the breathless way that his massaging was making you feel. The thought of Charlie in your tiny little pink bunny pajamas was hilarious to you and you couldn't help but giggle at the image of it.</p><p>Despite himself, Charlie laughed slightly too, a similar image in his mind. "What's gotten into you today? You're being so goddamn <em>difficult</em>." His hands squeezed your shoulders slightly as he said this. "You want me to punish you? Is that what you're looking for?"</p><p>You inhaled at that, surprised by his words and by the way that it sent a flash of arousing heat through your body.</p><p>Charlie was surprised as well. He'd really been saying it as a joke. But now he could feel the way you were arching against him and breathing heavier, and he realized he might've awakened something between the two of you.</p><p>"How about a time out? No TV before bed?" Charlie joked with you. One of his hands that was resting on your shoulder went to the crook of your neck, "Maybe you need a spanking." He said to you, testing it out, wanting to see how you would react.</p><p>You swallowed hard at that, eyes wide straight ahead of you. You hadn't been expecting that and just hearing those words come from his mouth made you throb. "Spanking?" You asked with a nervous chuckle, losing your breath.</p><p>"Mhm." Charlie hummed, his fingers grazing along the front of your delicate throat, he could squeeze you there so easily if he wanted to. "I think I took care of you too well this weekend...You woke up and became a spoiled brat, didn't you?" His lips were against your ear as he murmured to you.</p><p>You bit your lip as you heard that, trying your best not to moan out loud. "I'm not a brat." You argued with him, voice shaking slightly from the nervous excitement you felt. You were barely even awake and you were already sweating with desire.</p><p>"You're not," He agreed, "Not usually." Charlie's hands moved from your neck and shoulders down to your waist then your hips, pulling you against his growing hardness. "But you are today. Maybe daddy needs to teach you a lesson, sweetheart."</p><p>You could have melted into a puddle on the floor. And in a way, you sort of did as you leaned against him, your knees weak. Charlie was always so sweet to you and thoughtful, hearing him speak like this was making you lightheaded with lust.</p><p>Charlie could feel the way you were collapsing against him and he had a cocky smirk on his face as he bent down and picked you up bridal style, holding you close to his chest. After not having sex for more than year, having someone as gorgeous as you become a blushing mess because of him was a big boost to his confidence.</p><p>He moved over to your bed, setting you down on it gently and then moved in behind you. He was so close to you, chest pressed against your back, spooning you. Charlie's hand was rubbing up and down your thigh, moving it so that your back was arched and you fit in perfectly against him, like a puzzle piece.</p><p>"I showed you a good time this weekend, didn't I? Bought us a nice place to sleep, some food, made you cum, treated you like a princess. And you repay me by being a smart ass?" Charlie was talking softly by your ear, giving you goosebumps.</p><p>Charlie's hand on your thigh moved farther up your body, stopping on your ass. He smirked as he brought his hand down, very gently smacking you through the material of your pajama shorts.</p><p>It was such a soft smack, as much force as a high five, maybe even less. But it still caused you to inhale and let out a giggle. You turned your body so more of your ass was facing him, wordlessly telling him that you liked it, too embarrassed to actually say it out loud.</p><p>Charlie raised an eyebrow at your reaction, his hand still resting on the spot he'd just slapped. You constantly surprised him, he loved it. He tugged at the bottom of your little shorts, pulling them down over your hips along with your panties, needing more skin.</p><p>His hand went back to the spot he'd smacked before and he lifted up his arm so that he could bring it down and spank you again, this time more forceful. He watched your expression carefully over your shoulder, making sure this was all turning you on as much as it was for him.</p><p>You shut your eyes and took a deep breath, back arching even more at the contact. This wasn't the first time you'd had sex this way, rougher and less sweet. But it was the first time Charlie had been this way with you. He was still so careful with you and you loved it.</p><p>"You need me to remind you how to use your manners, don't you?" He muttered, lips dipping down against the skin under your ear. "My good little girl got carried away. You got used to me giving you everything you wanted." His voice was like honey, smooth and deep, resonating in your chest.</p><p>"Yes, daddy." You found yourself saying, shame washing over you as you do so out of how bold it was for you.</p><p>Charlie groaned under his breath, eyes rolling back briefly in pleasure. "You sound better already." He complimented you. His hand came down with a loud slap, instantly rubbing at the mark he left behind. "Say thank you, sweetheart. I want you to be good for me."</p><p>You opened your mouth but before you could speak, Charlie was spanking you again, the hardest one yet. You gasped, hands grasping at the sheets underneath you. "Thank you." You said to him, feeling so embarrassed but still so turned on.</p><p>Charlie's chest was rising and falling behind you quickly, pressing against your back. Every time he was sexual with you it felt like such a dream and this was no different. "A few more times, just to be sure you understand." He hummed before spanking you, twice in quick succession, leaving behind a large hand mark.</p><p>You couldn't help but moan out loud, "Thank you, daddy." You answered him, "You're so good to me, teaching me how to be better for you." You said, letting yourself get lost in the moment enough to talk dirty back to him. You could feel how hard he was growing pressed up behind you.</p><p>"That's right, honey. You're such a good girl, you just need some discipline." He praised you. Charlie's large hand rubbed against your skin that was stinging from his smacks. In the back of your mind you could feel the cool metal of his wedding ring against your hot skin. He had it off in the hotel with you but he must've put it back on when he came over last night, in case anyone saw him on his way over here.</p><p>As much as you hated to admit it, it caused a jolt of arousal in your stomach. All of this was so wrong, it was so hot. And the contrast of the cold metal band against your burning skin was soothing. It was ironic because the little piece of jewelry that caused you so much stress everyday was right now bringing you comfort.</p><p>"Do you think you learned your lesson? Next time daddy's good to you, you won't take advantage of him, will you?" He asked you in an even voice despite the heavy way he was breathing. He spanked you again, a painful blow to your already sore skin.</p><p>"I learned my lesson. Thank you, Mr. Barber." You told him in a whine, unable to stop the mischievous grin that fell onto your face as you said that. You knew what you were doing.</p><p>Charlie's hand stopped its soothing motions on your marked flesh, blinking, letting that statement wash over him. <em>God</em>, it really did it for him. He was suddenly moving away from you so that he was able to pull his pants down, his underwear soon following suit. He had to fuck you right now, he couldn't help himself.</p><p>"Don't move. I want you like that." Charlie said to you, hand briefly touching your waist as if to pause you in place. His inner director came out, calling the shots. He liked how it felt when he was spooning you like in that position, your ass against him with perfect access to your neck and tits.</p><p>You weren't going to argue with that.</p><p>Charlie reached behind him, still laying down as he searched around on the ground next to your bed, trying to find his wallet in the pants that were laying around somewhere.</p><p>"What are you doing?" You asked him breathlessly, raising an eyebrow and glancing over your shoulder.</p><p>"Condom." He mumbled, frustratedly running his fingers all over your floor, trying to grasp for the fabric.</p><p>Your own hand went your nightstand across from you, opening up the drawer. You digged around blindly, motions similar to Charlie's at the moment until you found what you were looking for. You pulled a condom out from the box and tossed it in his direction. "Here."</p><p>Charlie raised an eyebrow but didn't have the right mindset to question it right now. You were almost naked in front of him (besides your tiny pajama top) and he would be an idiot to think about anything other than how sexy you were.</p><p>He ripped the wrapper with his teeth and began unrolling it around his erection, lips pursed in concentration. The rain was heavy now, very easily heard over the sounds of the city. You pulled open your curtain just slightly to look out at the falling water. It was relaxing regardless of the current charged circumstances in your bed.</p><p>Charlie moved in closer behind you, ready to go now. His hand went to your hip, parting your thighs in a way that gave him an easier angle to enter you. Before doing so, he reached his hand over to your mouth. "Get them wet for me."</p><p>You eagerly wrapped your lips around his first three fingers, tongue lapping at his skin and coating it with your saliva. You went out of your way not to brush against his wedding band but you knew it was there, making your heart pound.</p><p>Charlie groaned as he watched you from over your shoulder. So fucking pretty. He pulled his fingers away with a 'pop' noise and then moved them down to your folds where he rubbed the same fingers against you there, getting you wetter than you already were.</p><p>You inhaled sharply at the feeling of him running the head of his cock along that wetness before he cautiously slid inside of you.</p><p>"<em>Fuck</em>." You both moaned at the same time. You always did that. And at any other time one of you probably would've pointed that fact out and you two would have shared a few affectionate laughs and looks at each other. But now wasn't that time. Now, the only thing you two were focused on was getting this relief of sexual tension.</p><p>His hand went to your hip, fingertips digging into your skin as he slowly started thrusting into you, moving you up and down on his shaft exactly the way that he wanted it. You two were both breathing heavy, the inhales and exhales audible over the sounds of the rain.</p><p>"See? I knew you could be my good girl. Taking daddy's cock so well. I fit so perfectly inside of you, sweetheart." Charlie groaned, continuing to rock his hips and guide you up and down on him.</p><p>You moaned out, fingers against your soft sheets as you took in the way that Charlie completely filled you up. It was always painful at first, he was so big inside of you. But that's what made it feel so good, the reminder that he was so much larger than you but still so gentle.</p><p>As Charlie fucked you from behind, he let out a low groan when he caught sight of your ass and the way that his large handprints looked on your skin, warm and raw. You were his perfect girl but it sent a wave of arousal through his system to see the way he was able to ruin you, marking you.</p><p>He leaned over your shoulder so that he was able to get a view of the way his cock was entering you, the way your breasts were bouncing with each motion and the way your hands were in little fists, grasping in pleasure.</p><p>Charlie moved his fingers back up to your mouth, the ones you had gotten wet previously and you didn't need to be instructed to wrap your lips around them. You made small noises against him there, muffled by the way he was running his fingers along your tongue.</p><p>He removed his hand and hovered his slick fingers over your clit. "Say please." Charlie hummed in your ear, kissing you there briefly as you did so.</p><p>"Please, daddy." You whimpered, eyebrows furrowing in concentration</p><p>"There you go, good girl." Charlie mumbled while he pressed his fingers against your clit, rubbing you there in the way he knew you loved, the way that made you instantly clench around him.</p><p>You gasped, back arching at the feeling, shoulder blades pressed against Charlie's chest. Moaning, you glanced up at him. He was staring down at your bodies in concentration, strands of hair bouncing with each thrust, jaw clenched. He looked so handsome. You were obsessed with this man.</p><p>"Hi." You giggled breathlessly when his eyes locked with yours. This caused Charlie to chuckle as well, heart pounding with affection towards you. He felt so lucky.</p><p>"Hi, honey. You're doing such a good job for me." He hummed, leaning down and pressing his lips against yours, not stopping the rocking of his hips or stroking on your clit as he did so.</p><p>Your moans broke off into small whimpers against his lips, noises in time with each roll of his hips inside of you. You could feel your muscles tightening, squeezing him in closer.</p><p>"Go ahead and cum for me when you're ready. I want you to cum for me, baby." Charlie urged you, voice trembling slightly from the way he could feel his own orgasm starting to form deep in his body.</p><p>You nodded, parting away from his lips so that you were able to take in deep breaths, wide eyes locked with his dark honey colored ones. Your gazes focused on each others and nothing else made you feel dizzy with pleasure and intimacy. It was too much. Your mouth parted, eyebrows furrowing as you felt yourself cum on his cock, squeezing around him as moans spilled out from your chest.</p><p>"There you go, just like that, what a good girl." Charlie praised you as your orgasm rolled through your body, coaxing you through the overwhelming relief that you were experiencing. His eyes didn't leave yours the entire time and when your eyelids fluttered open as you recovered, Charlie gave you a big, lazy grin.</p><p>"Good job." He complimented you, kissing you. "You want me to cum for you now? I'm so close, baby." He was practically whining as he said it, hands on your hips bringing you up and down on top of him in a sloppy rhythm.</p><p>You nodded, out of breath, "Please, Charlie." You told him, using your manners that he taught you even though your brain was somewhere else entirely.</p><p>He nodded briefly at you, letting you know that he heard you as his fingers dug into your hips, slamming into you as a low groan erupted from his chest. His forehead was pressed against yours as he came, spilling into the condom that was inside of you, filling it up.</p><p>The sound of Charlie's unfiltered moans made your heart soar, especially knowing that you were the one who caused them. You never wanted this moment to end with him, you wanted to stay there with him forever.</p><p>You collapsed fully onto the bed, parting from your stare on him while you caught your breath. Charlie was doing the same, though he collapsed onto your body, still inside of you as he wrapped his arm around you and held you close.</p><p>Over the next several minutes, you two were silent, listening to the sounds of rain and your heavy breathing. Completely comfortable and content. Happy.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p>When you felt like you had enough strength in your legs and you had separated from Charlie and pulled your pajama bottoms back on, you took a trip to the bathroom. When you were finished, Charlie switched with you, entering when you exited.</p><p>While he was in there, you went over to your kitchen counter and began making cups of coffee for the two of you, humming peacefully under your breath while you did so.</p><p>"For me?" Charlie asked, running a hand through his hair as he joined you, wrapping his arms around you from behind and placing a kiss on your bare shoulder. He took a deep breath, enjoying the way the coffee smelled mingling with your shampoo.</p><p>"For you." You agreed, smiling. You handed Charlie a mug, an apologetic look on your face. "I thought you'd prefer my '<em>World's Best Grandma</em>' mug over my Hello Kitty one." You told him.</p><p>Charlie laughed out loud as he took the mug from you, turning it in his hands so that he could read the writing on the side of it. "Grandma, huh? Is there something you aren't telling me?" He teased you.</p><p>You rolled your eyes with a smirk, moving away from his embrace so that you could open your fridge and grab your cream from it. "My college friends got me that. I was the grandma of the group." You explained and when you could tell he didn't fully understand, you continued. "I never went out to the bars or anything with them. I was the boring old lady."</p><p>Charlie smirked slightly as he brought the cup to his lips to blow on the steaming liquid. "How ironic." He muttered.</p><p>You raised an eyebrow in confusion as you stirred your coffee. "What do you mean?"</p><p>"The boring old lady found the boring old man." Charlie grinned cheekily, bringing the mug up to his lips.</p><p>You couldn't help but laugh, turning around to face him and leaning your back against the countertop. "Aw, don't say that, Charlie. That's not true." You scolded him, smirking. "You aren't <em>boring</em>." You teased him, purposefully not commenting on the 'old' part of that.</p><p>Charlie pretended to be offended, scoffing. "Are you asking for another punishment already? I thought I just taught you a lesson." He said, moving close to you so that he was leaning over you. </p><p>You two locked eyes and he leaned down to kiss you, both of you sighing happily into it. When you were alone, with no other outside forces making things difficult, it was all so easy for the two of you. If only it could always be like this.</p><p>"Go sit down. I'll bring you breakfast." You suggested to him.</p><p>"Breakfast?" Charlie asked, suspicious as he glanced around your kitchen. He knew you didn't cook.</p><p>"Yeah." You told him. You reached behind you and grabbed your laptop. "I don't have a TV but I have my sister's cable login. Knock yourself out." You told him as you opened your screen and pulled the website up.</p><p>Charlie took the laptop from you, "Yes, chef." He said sarcastically, holding his 'grandma' mug in one hand with your computer in the other as he made his way over to your couch.</p><p>While you scrambled around your tiny kitchen, trying to figure out what you could make for him, Charlie was scrolling through channels. He settled on a local News channel, discovering pretty quickly that the news being reported wasn't local in New York but instead local back in Illinois where your sister lived.</p><p>He couldn't help but smile wistfully as he watched it. It had been so long since he'd lived somewhere like this. Small town in the Midwest. It brought back memories. Not exactly good ones, some painful. But still, the nostalgia was there.</p><p>A few minutes later, you joined Charlie in the living room area. You had a sheepish look on your face, a big smile, as you slowly handed him a plate.</p><p>"What's this?" He asked you, amused as he took it from you.</p><p>"Poptarts." You said, giving him big puppy dog eyes. You fluttered your eyelashes, trying to convince him to appreciate your pathetic attempt at giving him food. He always took such good care of you. He even brought you a lunch every day to work, you at least wanted to show your attempt to repay the favor.</p><p>Charlie had a big silly smile on his face as he took the plate from you. You were so fucking cute. "Wow, you must've worked so hard on this." He taunted you, "Thank you, sweetheart." He told you and it was genuine.</p><p>It didn't matter if you only gave him a single crumb for breakfast, Charlie's heart was going to explode at any attempt you made to make him happy.</p><p>"You're welcome." You laughed, pleased that he was at least playing along with you. "I usually eat two of them but I gave you my second one because you're bigger than me." You joked with him as you sat down beside him.</p><p>While the two of you drank your coffee and ate your anticlimactic breakfast, you started telling him more about your hometown since that's what the two of you were watching on the laptop screen. He asked you things about what you'd do for fun, where you liked going to eat, etc. It was nice to just be able to share things about yourself with him. He really genuinely listened, even if not all of it was extremely interesting.</p><p>Charlie liked learning more about you, he wanted to know every little thing. It helped that he felt like he overshared the night before, when he explained his situation with Nicole to you over the phone. He was grateful that you were the one doing the talking at the moment.</p><p>There was a lull in the conversation and Charlie's mind wandered to something before that stuck out to him. He put his empty plate on the coffee table in front of him, wiping stray crumbs away from his hands. "Can I ask you something?"</p><p>You frowned. The perfect way to get your anxiety levels to rise. "Sure."</p><p>Charlie cleared his throat, adjusting his soft pajama shirt as he leaned back against the couch. He looked over at you. "Those condoms." He said simply, referencing the ones that you had in your nightstand drawer. "What were those for?"</p><p>You blinked in surprise, grabbing a throw pillow next to you and bringing it into your lap, searching for a type of comfort with the nerves you felt. "Um. For...protection?" You asked, a breathless chuckle, skin burning in embarrassment.</p><p>He sighed. This was stupid, he already felt dumb. "I know, honey, but why do you have them? You know I always bring my own."</p><p>You understood now and you sighed, somewhat guilty even though you knew you had no reason to be. "Are you asking if I have sex with other people?" You guessed and even just saying that out loud felt too blunt, you weren't sure why.</p><p>Charlie exhaled deeply, cheeks puffing slightly as he did so. He already regretted this. "I guess I am, yeah." He admitted, keeping his eyes on you even though he really wanted to look away.</p><p>You stared at him in surprise. It wasn't an unfair question to ask you, you realized. Regardless of if he wanted to know out of possessiveness or not, knowing how many partners your partner currently had was safe. But it still made your stomach twist for some reason. "No." You answered him, "You're the only person in New York I've had sex with." You said honestly.</p><p>Charlie nodded, thinking that over. He felt relieved and he hated himself for that. When he saw the condoms in your drawer he couldn't help but let his mind wander and imagine you bringing other men to your bed, pulling them out from your nightstand and handing it to them the way you'd done for him.</p><p>Charlie was a jealous man but moreso, he was protective. Part of his curiosity came from the need to be possessive over you, insecurity. But a bigger part of his questioning came from a place of concern. He knew he took care of you, he wasn't sure if everyone else you were with would do the same and he didn't like that.</p><p>You kept your eyes down on the pillow on your lap, running along the soft material of it, trying to keep your eyes preoccupied. "But, Charlie..." You started then trailed off. It took you a few moments but you got the courage back. "Even if I was...It's not really fair for you to be upset about it."</p><p>Charlie's eyebrows raised, hearing that. "Why wouldn't it be fair? I'm sleeping with you. I think it's natural for me to not be thrilled at the idea that you might also be sleeping with other people." He said, talking quicker, getting defensive.</p><p>You swallowed hard. You didn't like this. "That's not what I mean-"</p><p>Charlie cut you off, "Honestly, I've never pried into your personal life until now and I don't feel the need to. I just asked a simple question, I don't think that makes me a bad guy." He said, volume of his voice raising.</p><p>"You aren't a bad guy!" You said to him, looking over at him with wide worried eyes. "I'm not saying that. I just...Even if I was actively with other people..." You softened, sighing. "I hate to bring it up, but Charlie, you're <em>married</em>."</p><p>Charlie let that statement slap him in the face, stomach dropping. It was true. He had a wife. It was easy to forget what he was doing when he was caught up in the moment with you but to hear it so explicitly said...</p><p>His resolve crumbled, realizing that you weren't accusing him of anything, you were just sharing your feelings.</p><p>You felt uncomfortable with the lack of a verbal response from him and so you kept talking to fill the silence. "Being upset with me for seeing other people when you go home to a family every day...It's really selfish." You admit to him, growing nervous. You never speak to him like this, you don't know what his response will be.</p><p>Charlie was looking down at the laptop screen, thinking about that. It was selfish, he realized that. Even if he didn't want you with anyone besides him, at the end of the day, he was married. It wasn't fair for him to get away with that but you couldn't.</p><p>He glanced back over at you and then suddenly, he was leaning towards you and putting a hand on your cheek so that he could press his lips against you and kiss you.</p><p>You froze in surprise. A definite mood switch that you hadn't seen coming. But you kissed him back, you would much rather this than the way you two had been talking a moment ago.</p><p>Parting from your lips but staying close to you, Charlie took a deep breath. "Thank you." He said to you, hand still resting on your face.</p><p>"For what?" You asked, confused, letting out a small laugh. You didn't do anything for him.</p><p>He sighed as he thought about how to word it. "Thank you. For...calling me out for doing something wrong without attacking me." Charlie explained, almost sadly.</p><p>He was so used to his arguments with Nicole. He'd make a mistake and then it would snowball into something much bigger. She'd bring up every issue she's had with him for years, mentioning things like his father or his upbringing with every intention to hurt him. It made Charlie such a defensive person, always feeling like he needed to explain why he was right instead of listening to why he was wrong.</p><p>You had been so honest and gentle about it. You told him how you felt and why you didn't agree with him. There was no attacking, no trying to get the upper hand. He appreciated it more than he could explain.</p><p>You frowned with him, your expression mirroring his. "Of course. I never want to attack you, Charlie. I understand where you were coming from. I just didn't think it was fair, is all." You told him, hand going to his wrist that was near your face, wrapping around him there to hold him in place.</p><p>Charlie nodded, letting that sink in. You never wanted to attack him. It was so different.</p><p>He brought his lips in against yours again, letting out a small groan into the kiss. He was so content to be there with you, on your small couch, eating poptarts and watching some random News Channel from a town he'd never heard of. He never wanted to leave.</p><p>Being with you had a big possibility to ruin his life. It could take away his family, his reputation, maybe even parts of his job since you were his intern.</p><p>On paper and to anyone on the outside looking in, you were so <em>bad</em> for him.</p><p>But kissing you and feeling your body melt against his while he held you in his arms, Charlie couldn't help but notice how effortlessly happy he was.</p><p>It didn't matter what the reality of the situation was, in his mind, you were so <em>good</em> for him.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Teasing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Going to work was a lot more fun when you were fucking your boss. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Over the past week at work, Charlie had become a lot more willing to sneak around with you, unable to stop himself. Both of you loved the thrill of it, regardless of how dangerous it all was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everytime the two of you had a moment alone, Charlie’s lips were on yours, large hands holding you in place so that he could kiss you as much as possible until the alone time was over. You’d always eat lunch together, him explaining to everyone that he needed to go over notes alone with you. He still packed you food everyday, learning quickly what you liked and what you didn’t, choosing dishes thoughtfully. You two had spent enough time together at this point that you had formed inside jokes, some laughter that only you both knew about. All it took was a knowing glance across the room and you’d both be grinning like idiots. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You hadn’t had enough time alone to actually have sex since the night he spent at your apartment. The closest you had gotten was his hand snaking up your skirt while he pressed you against the wall of the stairwell, after everyone had gone home. It had been interrupted quickly, someone entering the building and making the two of you quickly part ways.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were both aching for each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>So, now, when you were sitting on the ground of Charlie’s apartment, building a Lego set with Henry, all you could think about was the fact that you were in </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> home. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There had been parent-teacher conferences at Henry’s school, both Charlie and Nicole wanted to attend  so you needed to hang out with Henry until they got back. Not the perfect way to spend your Friday night but you supposed it could’ve been worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You went to put the blocks away, wanting to clean up but Henry stopped you. “Not until mom gets home. I want to show her what we made.” He told you, even though he had already focused his attention on his iPad instead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You sighed, smiling, “Fine.” You said, moving from the floor and onto the couch, bare knees sore from rubbing against the carpet. You noted that Henry never wanted to show Charlie anything, never got excited about him coming back home. It was always Nicole. It made you sad, you knew how hard Charlie tried for Henry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if on cue, the front door opened, Nicole walking inside. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh and there she is.” You told Henry, trying to sound casual. It definitely was far from casual for you to be around the woman whose husband you were having an affair with. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mom! Come here. Look how cool.” Henry said excitedly, abandoning the iPad by placing it in your lap as he moved over to the ‘castle’ the two of you had built together with the blocks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh wow!” Nicole pretended to gush, sending you a smile as she made her way over, “That is awesome, Henry.” She told him, forcing an excited mom tone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As she crouched down, feigning interest as she looked it over, Charlie entered the apartment, trailing behind her. His eyes instantly went to you, making you straighten up in your seat on the couch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The same couch that you sat on his lap and he made you cum with his hand around your mouth to silence your whines while the thunderstorm raged on outside of the window a few weeks ago.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The memory made your skin burn, heart speeding up. You broke eye contact with him, focusing your eyesight on the iPad in your lap, silencing the game that Henry had pulled up and pretending to be busy with it. You found it difficult to look at Charlie when his family was around, it felt so wrong. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s mind had wandered in the same direction. Seeing you perched up on the couch cushion, wide eyed and adorable, knees red from leaning on the floor, made a silly grin fall onto his lips as he shut and locked the door behind him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to change clothes then get dinner started.” Charlie informed Nicole. His wife’s back was turned towards him, still focused on the blocks on the ground and so Charlie made eye contact with you instead, giving you a smirk as he did so, looking up and down blatantly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You cleared your throat, his boldness catching you by surprise. You fumbled with the device in your hands, setting it on the seat beside you so that you didn’t end up dropping it on the ground. You began gathering your belongings, wanting to get out of there. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicole stood up from her crouched position, smoothing her clothes down. “Do you have big weekend plans?” She asked you, making conversation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You thought about it. “Not really, no.” You stood and pulled your purse over your shoulder. “I heard there’s a party or something for you guys?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When you’d been making a snack for Henry he told you that there was a ‘pool party’ the next day that they were all going to. The thought of Charlie enjoying himself by the pool with his wife and son had made you sick. You hadn’t been able to even steal a few bites of Henry’s food like you normally did, too nauseous and guilty to do so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicole smiled, clearly excited at the thought of it. “Yeah, we do, actually. A close friend of ours...they live a few hours away and always throw a big get-together on the last warm weekend of the year.” She explained, hands going to her sweater pockets. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sounds fun.” You replied, feeling awkward as you stood there in front of her. “It’s supposed to be really nice out, you’re lucky.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicole’s arms went across her chest and her smile turned sheepish, eyebrows raised. “Well, actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” She said and when you were quiet, she continued. “All of our friends have kids and a few of them bring their nannies so the adults can relax but...None are available and…” She trailed off, shrugging. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t need to finish out loud, you got the point. She wanted you to come to watch Henry and the other couple’s kids. You held your purse tighter against you, feeling uncomfortable. You weren't sure how to answer that, if you should do it or not.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Charlie wasn’t involved, you wouldn’t mind at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s just four of them, not all of our friends have kids, it shouldn't be a big deal…” Nicole started explaining, trying to make it sound better than what it was. “But I understand that it’s last minute and not really typical of what you usually do for us…” She frowned, “I’d pay you double.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You perked up at that. You needed extra money really badly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicole could see the look on your face, how you were warming up to the idea. “You could bring your suit, swim in the pool, relax. It </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> supposed to be really warm out, probably the last time all year. I think you might have fun”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As she spoke, Charlie made his way out of his bedroom and into the living room. You glanced over at him. He was in casual clothes now, a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Gorgeous. God dammit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What would be fun?” He asked curiously as he passed between the two of you, moving into the kitchen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Greene’s party tomorrow.” Nicole answered, using the name of their friends whose house it was at. “I was asking her to come with us to watch the kids...their nanny came down with a cold and doesn’t want to spread it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie paused at his movement on the handle of the fridge, out of eyesight from the two of you. The thought of you coming along and spending time with not just his family but also with all of his friend’s families made him incredibly nervous. There would be so many times for you both to slip up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure you want to do that?” Charlie called out to you as he grabbed a beer. He made his way back out to the living room, looking between you and Nicole, leaning against the door frame. “I mean, that’s not really fair to make you go all the way out there...We can watch our own kids at a party.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You shifted your weight on your feet, very uncomfortable to be involved in this discussion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know. You’re right.” Nicole sighed, she looked over at you apologetically. She already felt rude asking you to join but she knew she just wanted to fit in with her rich friends. They always had their nannies and maids around and it was easy for her to feel inadequate when she had never done the same. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine.” You interrupted her gently. “I don’t mind going...I’d like to sit by the pool.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was discreetly sending you a look that said, ‘really?’. He had been trying his best to give you an excuse to say no. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a lifesaver, really. The girls are going to be so excited that I’m bringing someone.” Nicole grinned, she started walking into the kitchen, moving past Charlie. “Come here, I’ll write down some information for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You followed after her, looking up at Charlie as you brushed against him, your shoulder against his arm. You gave him an innocent look, pretending that you didn’t understand his discomfort at the idea of you joining his family at a party. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie took a long sip of his beer as he glared down at you, physically turning his head as you passed so that he secretly could look you up and down from behind...</span>
  <em>
    <span>Brat</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He loved it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicole proceeded to explain to you that the party was a few hours away from where they lived. She told you that they’d send an Uber to take you there and bring you back home but if you wanted to, the three of them were going to stay the night and there was an extra guest room for you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You told yourself you couldn’t go that far. You could go to this gathering and play nice but the idea of sleeping assumingly down the hall from where Charlie and Nicole were sharing a bed seemed so wrong to you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You’d go and leave late, you decided. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>When you got back to your apartment that night, you checked your phone to see that Charlie had sent you a text. It said:</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You’re very bad. Be careful tomorrow.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, almost a minute later:</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span> Don’t reply. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>You couldn’t help but smirk at that. You supposed it </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> pretty bad of you, to volunteer to spend extra time with him. Especially around all of his friends and family. Oops.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The next morning, as you packed your bag, you couldn’t help the small pit of anxiety in your stomach. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Spending a night teasing Charlie and having a few drinks by the pool. But then you thought about the fact that you were about to get into an Uber and show up at this party that started a few hours ago with people you’ve never met and you were going to be around Nicole…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You decided to bring a bag just in case you chose to stay the night but your plan was to leave once Henry went to bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You took a deep breath as you opened up one of your drawers. You dug around, past socks without a pair, scrunchies, random pajamas...There they were.  Your swimsuits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You had a few. One was a one-piece back from that summer that you lifeguarded at the end of high school. Another was an older suit, color faded and worn. Then you found it. It still had tags on it, never having an excuse to wear something so revealing and flattering. A tiny little white bikini. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your skin was warm as you put it in your bag. Charlie’s eyes were going to pop out of his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The ride to the party had been longer than anticipated. Nicole mentioned it was a few hours away but you’d underestimated that. You were glad that you brought your headphones, able to zone out and not feel obligated to have a conversation with the stranger driving the car for that long of a trip.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> As the car pulled up to the house, your eyes widened. It was huge and beautiful, a large sprawling yard in the front of it and a winding driveway. After spending your time in the heart of New York City, seeing so much space and such a big area  to live in was breathtaking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice place.” The driver commented as he pulled up to the front door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No kidding.” You muttered, suddenly so much more nervous. You gathered your belongings, stuffing everything in your backpack. You thanked your driver and when you shut the car door behind you, he was already driving away. No turning back now.. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You pulled at the strings of your bookbag, sandals smacking against the concrete below you as you made your way up to the double front doors. You could hear people outside, in the back yard assumingly. Noises of pool water splashing, music, people laughing. You hoped that someone was actually inside the house as you pressed the doorbell. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took a few minutes and you wondered if you should ring it again but then one of the heavy doors swung open. On the other side was a woman, most likely in her early forties, gorgeous and grinning with a full glass of wine in her hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh!” She said, clearly confused by your presence but still friendly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi.” You said, uncomfortable, “I’m um...I’m here for Charlie?” You said then quickly corrected yourself, “And Nicole...I’m Henry’s babysitter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Who you were dawned on the woman in front you then. A bigger smile spread on her face. “Oh! Right. Yes, Nicole was just saying that you were probably getting close. Come in!” She said, moving out of the way so that you were able to enter the house. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The interior was just as gorgeous as the exterior and you were trying your best not to stare too hard, not wanting to come off rude. “You’re staying the night, right?” She asked you, motioning towards the bag on your back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You opened your mouth to respond, wanting to tell her that you weren’t sure if you were going to yet but she kept talking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here, follow me. I’ll show you the guest room.” She said, turning down a hallway and expecting you to follow her, not giving you the chance to respond. She quickly turned around with a surprise look. “Oh god, I’m so rude. I’m Sarah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You introduced yourself, following behind her and letting your eyes wander over the professional photos of her and her family hanging on the walls. Everything was perfect. It was intimidating.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sarah opened a door, revealing a small but very neat and put together room which you assumed was for you. “Hope this is alright. There should be enough blankets but if there isn’t just let me know.”  She told you, stumbling on the rug slightly, clearly tipsy from her clumsiness and loud outgoing voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I should be fine. Thank you, it's so nice of you to let me stay here.” You said to her gratefully, setting the bag down on the foot of the bed. You still weren’t sure if you were going to spend the night but you’d play along for now, feeling too awkward to say otherwise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god. It’s no problem. We love having people over.” She replied, taking a long sip from the cup in her hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked you over, overtly, eyebrows raising. “You are adorable!. Do you have a boyfriend?” She asked you and when you didnt respond (how did you say ‘no but I’m fucking my married boss’?), she continued. “Or a girlfriend? We don’t judge here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You chuckled nervously, shaking your head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I should set you up with my nephew then!” Sarah said loudly, getting thrilled at the idea. “He lives in Jersey but he's a dentist and just as cute as you-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She could’ve rambled forever, tipsy and happy, but she was interrupted by a gentle knock on the wall outside of the door. You looked over to see Nicole.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey.” Nicole smiled at you, giving you an apologetic look. She could tell that her friend was ranting and being overbearing. She hadn’t meant to leave you  alone with her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi.” You said, almost sighing in relief. You never thought you’d feel grateful to see her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Henry’s been waiting to get in the pool, he wanted you here first.” Nicole chuckled, leaning against the door frame. “I don’t know if you want to get in too but you could put on your suit and get a drink or two, enjoy yourself.” She offered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicole was so glad that you were there. Her and Charlie were friends with everyone at the party but they didn’t exactly fit in.They lived in the city, in an apartment, and Nicole worked as much as she could, whatever role she could get. The other families all lived in big houses like this, the husband with a high enough paying job that the wives could stay at home. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neither lifestyle was good or bad and Nicole understood this. But it felt somewhat validating to be able to bring her own ‘nanny’, to show them all that they weren’t so different, they were put together enough for that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Plus, it definitely helped to know that you were going to be watching Henry and she didn’t have to worry about that for a night. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, okay.” You told her, glancing at your bag, imagining the tiny swimsuit that was resting in there. Fuck.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Meanwhile, Charlie was standing outside in the yard, huddled around the grill where one of the men he was with was flipping food on the flames. They all had beers in their hands, other hands in their pockets. A classic dad setting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, I feel like I pulled the muscle.” One of the men, John, said while flexing his shoulder, rolling his neck. They had just gotten back from playing a few rounds of tennis while the wives had been at home, setting everything up for the party.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a good day so far. Relaxing, even. But as the hours ticked by, Charlie’s anxiety levels rose further and further, knowing that the more time that passed, the closer it got to when you would be showing up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Probably.” Charlie said to the man who was referencing his latest injury.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was bent over, grabbing a ball that had rolled over in his direction, Henry and the other boys in the yard throwing it too far towards him.  While he was in that position, he heard the way his friends suddenly went quiet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” One of the men asked, astonished. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie straightened back up with a raised eyebrow, about to make a joke about what got them so worked up but then he realized who they were looking at.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You had on the cutest little dress, light blue and short. You weren’t wearing your usual tall socks and boots, instead your legs were exposed, sandals on too. Charlie could tell that you took your time doing your makeup and hair, he always noticed the little things like that. You looked gorgeous and you were definitely getting all of the attention even though the hesitant look on your face made it clear that you didn’t exactly enjoy having all of their eyes on you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s Henry’s babysitter.” Charlie replied, the tone of his voice letting them know that he was aware of how lucky that made him. “My intern too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No way.” One of the men, Matt, said with a laugh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your eyes scanned around the backyard, taking it all in. It was gorgeous, bright green grass, a large pool, a few dogs running around with the kids who were playing catch. Then you got to the grill, where a few men were standing around. Charlie included. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was wearing a t-shirt, a pair of sunglasses, a beer in his hand. It was rare for you to see him this relaxed in a public setting. Usually when he was this laidback it was after fucking you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You held a hand up, wiggling your fingers in a way that said ‘hello’ to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The back of Charlie’s ears heated up, thrilled that you were giving him your attention. He smiled at you and waved back, ignoring the way that the men around him were watching intently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should go over there. She looks lost.” John smirked, flipping one of the burgers in front of him, almost too distracted by the way your legs looked in that dress to do so. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why don’t you have her come over here instead? She might want to get to know us.” Matt said jokingly, also staring at how attractive you were. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, knock it off. ” Charlie muttered but he had a grin on his face, understanding their admiration. He started making his way towards you, large strides along the lawn, pretending not to notice the way that his friends were all watching. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your fingers went to the hem of your dress, playing with it nervously as you watched him approach. The way that the other men were looking at you wasn't lost on you, it just added to your nerves. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey.” He called out to you as he got closer, taking off his pair of sunglasses as he approached.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi.” You said, staring up at him with big eyes. It felt so strange to be in a setting like this with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you find Nicole?” Charlie asked, trying to make innocent conversation, just wanting an excuse to talk to you. The two of you had to act casual at work, having to pretend that he was just your boss. But it was different here, in this setting he wanted to be able to kiss you, touch you. He couldn’t. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nodded, holding your glass of wine up. “I did.” You said, letting him know that she was the one who got it for you. “How’s it going? It’s so nice out.” You said, also just trying to make innocent conversation. No one was near the two of you, no one would be able to eavesdrop. But still, it was too risky to talk openly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is. Warmer than I thought.” Charlie said, “It’s been good so far. Henry’s been asking about you.” He said, head tilting towards the group of kids who were playing in the yard. As he stared down at you, you could detect the glimmer in his eyes. The way he was discreetly focusing on your bare skin, the way your chest was rising and falling, your hand messing with the edge of your dress. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He glanced around, making sure that no one was within earshot. “I love this dress on you, honey.” Charlie said in a soft voice, quiet enough for only you to hear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You took a long drink of the wine in your hand, needing to distract yourself from immediately giggling like an idiot. You looked down at your feet, kicking a stray piece of grass away from your shoe. “Thanks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re going to make it very difficult for me to behave, aren’t you?” He said to you in an even lower voice. You made the mistake of glancing up at him, met with his concentrated eyes, looking you over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your mouth parted to respond, unsure of what to even say because of how nervous you were to get caught. But then you heard your name being called excitedly and you noticed Henry running towards you from across the yard, breaking the tense moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, slow down!” Charlie called out, watching the way that his son was rushing towards the two of you, bare feet on the wet pavement near the pool.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Henry didn’t listen, keeping up his quick pace as he slid in the grass over to you. He called  your name again excitedly. “What took you so long? Let’s swim!” He said to you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie gave you an apologetic look before turning back to Henry. “She just walked in the door, give her a minute.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, that's okay.” You  said with a smile, “I have a suit on under this. Why don’t you get changed and grab us some towels?” You suggested to Henry. You weren’t exactly dying to get in the pool, still feeling awkward here. But you knew that Henry had been waiting for you all day to do so, you felt guilty telling him no.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Henry nodded and excitedly ran towards the house, listening to your directions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was distracted now. You had a swimsuit on underneath that little dress... He cleared his throat, doing his best to not let his imagination wander to what it might look like. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Charles!” John yelled with a smirk, doing his best to embarrass his friend in front of his pretty little babysitter. “Come help me with my wieners!” He said, referencing the hot dogs that he was cooking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie rolled his eyes before giving you a gentle smile. “You can handle them, right?” He asked, motioning towards the kids that were still playing catch, the ones that  you were there to watch after while the parents relaxed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure.” You answered, “Can you handle them?” You teased him, motioning towards his friends who were waiting for him to join them again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure.” Charlie repeated after you, a small wink as he did so. He turned on his heels, making his way back to the men, sending you one last glance over his shoulder as he did so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few moments later, Henry walked out, swim trunks on and multiple towels in hand. You told him to go get the other kids, if they wanted to join before you walked over to the pool area yourself. No one was over there, the husbands by the grill and the wives inside of the house preparing other things. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You went over to the edge of the pool and dipped your toe in. The water was perfect. As far as jobs went, it definitely could be worse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Henry and the others rushed over and practically cannon balled into the pool, you took the time to glance around. No one seemed to be looking over in your direction. You were bashful now, imagining how revealing your swim suit was, you didn’t have the balls to take off your dress yet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead, you folded up the towel that Henry brought out and set it on the edge of the shallow end, sitting on it and letting your legs dangle into the water with your glass of wine in your hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You continued this way for a while (until your cup was empty). The entire time all of the children in the pool were begging you to join, threatening to splash water on you, trying to pull at your feet. It was harmless and sort of amusing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was until one of them jumped into the pool directly in front of you, causing water to come up and splash all over your body. It missed your face and hair for the most part, focusing almost directly on your dress. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” You yelled, laughing in surprise as you did so. You glanced down. You were soaked, the material of your dress clinging to your body. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now you have to get in!” Henry yelled, hand positioned in a way that was clearly threatening you that he would get you with more water if you didn’t. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Henry!” You yelled at him with a grin. You weren’t actually mad but...you would’ve preferred to be dry. You sighed as you looked yourself over. You supposed you might as well get into the pool now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hearing his son’s name, Charlie quickly looked over at the pool area in concern. But instead of seeing an injury or something similar, he was met with the image of you pulling your wet dress over your head, exposing the tiny swimsuit that you had  underneath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie looked almost comical, mouth parted open and cheeks tinted red, it was a surprise that he wasn’t drooling. There you were, looking like a literal angel in your bright white bikini, giggling and lowering yourself into the pool.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie had been placing slices of cheese onto the burgers on the grill when he noticed and it caused him to drop one of them directly onto the grill, instantly melting and making a mess. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Charlie, what the fuck?” Matt asked, taking an irritated drink from the beer in his hands. But then he noticed how distracted his friend was and his eyes slowly turned towards wherever Charlie’s attention was. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Matt then said, understanding, a similar look on his face as he noticed you in your suit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t take long for all of the men behind the grill to almost completely abandon the food that they were making, focusing on you instead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were standing in the very shallow end, making sure that Henry and his friends were playing safely. You didn’t want to go under the water after spending so much time on your makeup that morning but the water came up to your hips, your fingertips grazing around the surface of the water in a soothing way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have you ever watched babysitter porn? It’s my favorite.” Matt asked, grinning, doing his best to make Charlie uncomfortable as he began trying to scrape the melting cheese away from the hot surface of the grill. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie gave him an annoyed look, sweating. He didn’t need to watch it. He was living it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How the fuck did you manage to get a hold of her?” John asked, staring at you. “Nicole doesn’t care that you spend so much time around her? Sarah would never trust me. Why do you think our nanny is a sixty-five year old lesbian?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie frowned, trying to ignore the way that even a joke about spending time with you made his stomach drop. “Unlike you, I can control myself.” He answered. This was fucked up, he definitely hadn’t been able to control himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good for you.” Matt said with a shrug, impressed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Charlie muttered to himself, taking a long drink from the beer bottle in his hand, watching the way you were cupping water into your palm and letting it roll over body, hypnotized by it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Good for him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Inside of the house, one of the women named Diane was standing near the sink, cutting up some apples. She glanced outside at where  her daughter was splashing around in the pool. Her eyebrows raised when she saw you. “Is that your nanny?” She asked, glancing at Nicole.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh?” Nicole asked, standing onto her feet so that she could join her by the window. “Oh, yeah. Our babysitter.” She said, saying your name out loud. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm.” Diane said simply, judging. She moved her eyes back to the food she was preparing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Nicole asked with a frown, able to detect the edge to her response. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing!” Diane said, shaking her head, putting some of the fruit she was cutting up into a large bowl beside her. “I just...I don’t know. I remember you saying that your babysitter works for Charlie...I don’t think I would like Matt hanging around </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> all day...not to mention her being in the house all the time too…” She tried to make her voice casual but it was clear she was working herself up, imagining the way her own husband would behave in that situation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, stop.” Nicole rolled her eyes, “It’s not like that. It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>Charlie</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s Charlie?” Sarah asked curiously as she caught the end of their conversation, making her way over to the two of them, on her fourth drink of the afternoon</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing.” Nicole said quickly, trying to deflect. The last thing she needed was for Sarah to get her tipsy, nosey hands on something that could spark a rumor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come look.” Diane answered for her, motioning her head towards the window while she began slicing up the watermelon in front of her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sarah quickly joined behind her, bursting into laughter when she saw what her friend was talking about. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were standing on the edge of the pool now with a beach ball in your hand. Water was dripping down your body, your wet swimsuit clinging to your skin. You tossed the ball into the pool at Henry and the others, your breasts bouncing as you jumped slightly on the concrete as you did so. The men on the other side of the lawn were all staring at you slack jawed, in awe. Like a bunch of horny teenagers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jesus.” Sarah said, shaking her head. “It’s like Christmas for them, that’s so embarrassing.” As she said it, it slowly dawned on her, looking over at Nicole. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Everyday</span>
  </em>
  <span> must be Christmas for Charlie with you around. “Oh, honey.” She said with a frown. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Nicole asked, now getting agitated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doesn’t that bother you? Charlie’s so sweet but…” Sarah trailed off, giving her a sheepish look. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But what?” Nicole asked, now getting a little worked up herself. She wasn’t an idiot. She knew what they were insinuating but it just wasn't true. Sure, you were gorgeous and Charlie clearly agreed with that based on the way he was staring at you but it wasn’t like </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t get it.” Nicole added with a shake of her head. “She’s so...</span>
  <em>
    <span>innocent</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And Charlie’s so...</span>
  <em>
    <span>Charlie</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” She said chuckling, trying to justify it. Why didn’t it bother her the way that it bothered the other women? Should it bother her? She was starting to question everything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know.” Diane  said, cutting up the fruit. “I’m not saying anything is going on. I’ve just seen a lot of men cheat, even the ones you don’t expect. I get protective over you, you know that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks.” Nicole sighed, realizing that her friends were just looking out for her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s good that you trust him. John is such a horndog, I wouldn’t be able to leave him alone with a young pretty girl like that. Especially not recently.” She started smirking, leaning in closer to the two women. “He refuses to buy me this new washing machine and I’m refusing to have sex wtih him until he does.” She grinned, finding it hilarious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diane let out a loud laugh, “That’s perfect.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicole’s smile faltered. Withholding sex...Her and Charlie would have to be having sex in the first place in order for her to do that...It had been such a long time since they had. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She made her way back over to the window, frowning as she took in the way that the men by the grill were talking. John and Matt were in the middle of a conversation, turned towards each other. But Charlie wasn’t paying attention to them, instead he was staring intently at you. He had a small smirk on his face, his eyes moving up and down as he searched your body and slowly sipped his beer, enjoying the show you were putting on for him, oblivious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicole’s stomach twisted. She glanced over at the bottle of wine beside her and quickly poured her glass back up to the rim. She needed a drink. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The next couple of hours were pretty average, exactly what you’d expect from a get together at a rich family’s house. Way too much food and drinks, everything entirely too neat and fancy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You sat at the kids table and helped them with their food while the adults sat several feet away. Far enough that they could talk about whatever they wanted since they were out of ear shot of their children.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You didn’t mind. Talking about Youtube videos and Star Wars was probably a lot more interesting than whatever they were discussing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>You spent the rest of the evening playing games with them, getting into the pool a few more times, and chasing them around the yard. It was barely nine o’clock by the time they started to slow down. And once the slowing down started to happen, it didn’t take much longer for them to completely tire out, running around in the grass like exhausted zombies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been a slight struggle to get them all to take showers in their respective rooms but once they did, it was easy to get them in their beds, passed out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You glanced at the clock with a sigh of relief. Your work for the day was done. Although you packed your bag to stay overnight, you had decided earlier that afternoon that it would be best for you to just go home. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You and Charlie had done a decent job hiding your affection for each other but that didn’t mean it had been easy. All throughout the day, the two of you shared secretive glances, smiles, and Charlie checked up on how Henry was doing several more times than necessary in order to get you alone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You decided that the safest option would be to just go into the guest room, pull out your laptop that you brought with you and watch a tv show before heading to bed. As much as you wanted to go out there and see Charlie, it was too nerve wracking and risky. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A shower was definitely needed after all of the running around and swimming you did that day. The shower in the guest room was about triple the size of the one you had in your tiny apartment and much nicer. It was relaxing, a nice break alone from feeling on display all day. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After drying yourself off, you got into your pajamas. You made sure not to bring the embarrassing pink pair with bunnies all over them that you had on the last time Charlie spent the night. Instead you were just wearing a band t-shirt and comfortable shorts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You crawled into the bed, bigger than the one you owned and more comfortable, with your laptop on your chest, pulling up your favorite show. As much as you wished Charlie was beside you...This wasn’t all too bad. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For the next couple of hours, the adults all enjoyed themselves by relaxing outside, sitting around a table and getting tipsy. Regardless of how much he was laughing and pretending to be interested, Charlie’s eyes kept flashing up towards the window he knew you were at, the guest room you were staying in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could see that the lamp was on from the glow on the other side of the curtain, occasionally he could see the bathroom light turn on as well. He wondered if you were showering...what you were wearing. Charlie’s jaw tensed as he imagined the soap running down your body the way the pool water had been earlier. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The women decided to go inside before the men did, saying something about needing to get to bed earlier so that they’d be awake when the kids got up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie and the other husbands wanted to stay outside for a while longer, it wasn’t often that they had time alone to just relax with each other and without any wives or kids around. They had a bottle of whiskey in the middle of them, periodically filling their glasses up while also puffing on pricey cigars as they caught up with each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At one point, as Charlie leaned back in the patio chair, he noticed movement in the kitchen from the large windows beside him. He almost just automatically ignored it, not thinking it would be anything interesting but then as he strained his eyes, he realized it was you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were doing your best to be sneaky as you opened up random cupboards, trying to find a glass so that you could get yourself some water. Sarah told you to help yourself to any drinks or food you wanted. You’d been too embarrassed to do so but water was okay, you didn’t mind taking that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie glanced at the men across from him, noticing that they had no idea you were behind them in the house. “I’ll be right back. Bathroom.” He muttered, setting down his burning cigar in the ashtray. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As you stood on your tiptoes, reaching over your head to grab at a glass above you, you couldn’t help but let out a small gasp at the feeling of someone pressing themselves behind you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shh.” Charlie grinned, hand going to your hip as the other one reached over you to grab the cup for you. “It’s just me, sweetheart.” He murmured, chest pressed against your back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You exhaled in relief though  you weren’t sure what else you had been expecting. Charlie touching you like that was the only thing that made sense. You just hadn’t been expecting him to be so bold about it. You could smell the smoke on his clothes, the whiskey on his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie moved away from you as he went over to the fridge, with the cup he grabbed for you still in his hand. He pulled out a filtered water pitcher and poured it for you, somehow knowing exactly what you were down there looking for. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doing okay?” He asked you, handing you the glass he just poured for you. “I didn’t think you’d want to stay the night.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your hand brushed against his as you took the glass, causing you to swallow hard. “I didn’t.” You said honestly, “But it’s nice here..Kind of like a hotel.” You chuckled. You were suddenly nervous to be alone with him in a place like this. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s hands went to his hips, a sigh leaving his lips although there was also a hint of a smile there. He looked you over. “You’d know all about hotels, wouldn’t you?” He mused, teasing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Memories rushed back to you and Charlie alone in that hotel room, how you bent over the bed in the fancy lingerie you bought to wear for him. Your skin heated up as you took a drink of your water. “Funny.” You mumbled sarcastically. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie grinned at his own little joke, still continuing to stare at you. You were so cute when you got all worked up. He took in the pajamas you had on, definitely different than the ones you wore when you were alone with him. “Aren’t you a little too young to listen to them?” He asked you with a smirk, pointing to the classic rock  band that was on your t-shirt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You glanced down at your shirt then back up at him with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t know music had an age limit.” You said, your voice faltering slightly when you noticed how he was getting closer to you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie glanced towards the window, noticing that his friends outside were playing cards, concentrating on the game. He took that as his chance to press you against the countertop behind you. “I have to get you alone tonight.” He murmured, a large hand going to the indent of your waist. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your body instantly reacted to his, back arching towards him to get him to touch more of you. “Charlie…I don’t know.” You sighed, blinking. All of this was so stupid and risky. You knew he was tipsy, you wondered if you needed to be the one to put an end to it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He ignored the way you were protesting, his fingers digging into your waist. “When everyone’s asleep I’ll send you a text, okay? You can meet me somewhere.” Charlie said in a soft voice, eyes focused on yours. “You’ll do that for me, won’t you, honey?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You knew you should say no but instead you found yourself nodding, squirming under his touch and the way that his thighs were brushing against yours.  “Yes, Mr. Barber.” You told him breathlessly, a glint in your eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A wide grin broke out on Charlie’s face, groaning quietly. “Good girl.” He told you with a squeeze of his hand before suddenly pulling away from you. He made his way to the door that led to the backyard, sending you a discreet wink as he opened the door and walked out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You took in a deep shaky breath, a long drink of water. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Damn</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a few hours later and you were almost asleep, cuddled under the blankets in the soft bed. You had to keep reminding yourself to check your phone, seeing if you got the text from Charlie that you had been waiting for. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You glanced at the clock, it was a little after one in the morning. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your phone gently vibrated and when you glanced at the screen you saw the name ‘Charlie Barber’. You chuckled at that, shaking your head. It was so formal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The text said:</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Meet me by the pool. Wear your suit and bring a towel.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>You knew better than to reply, remembering his instructions from the night before when he told you not to. By the pool? Interesting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You shuffled around your room, hissing slightly at the feeling of your wet and cold swimsuit against your skin. You put your pajamas back on over it, not wanting to wander around this house in just your bikini in case someone were to see you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You clutched your towel to your chest as you peered out of the window in the kitchen. You couldn’t see him out there but you very quietly opened and shut the door behind you as you stepped outside. As you made your way to the pool, you frowned in confusion. Charlie was nowhere to be found. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But then you saw him. Around the corner of the house, sitting below the deck was a hot tub with Charlie relaxing inside of it, his arms spread out along the edge of it as he leaned back and watched you approach. As you got closer you were able to see the smile on his face making butterflies form in your stomach. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come here.” He told you in a soft voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You looked up at the house, nervous. The hot tub was situated underneath the tall deck, blocking it from any of the windows. There was no way for anyone to see the two of you unless they left the house and walked around to the side of it. The two of you would hear the door open and shut before the person coming out would be able to see the two of you. The chances of getting caught were low but….Not impossible. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You moved over to the outside of the tub, across from him. “I don’t know.” You said, contemplating. Really, there was nothing you wanted more than to get in the warm water with Charlie but your heart was pounding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Everyone’s passed out.” Charlie told you, moving across the water so that he could get closer to you, resting his knees on the bottom of it so that he was eye level with you, elbows on the edge. “If someone comes out, I’ll just tell them that you were already out here and I drunkenly got in too. I’ll pretend I’m wasted, I’ll take the blame. Make myself look like a dirty old man.” He smirked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You frowned, resisting the urge to reach out and move his slightly wet hair away from his eyes. You glanced over at the whiskey glass sitting on the table beside him, sitting next to a glass of wine. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Are</span>
  </em>
  <span> you wasted?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m a little drunk.” He admitted, “But I promise we’re okay out here. I always do this when we stay overnight. No one ever comes out.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Usually when his family stayed here, at some point him and Nicole would get into a fight and he’d sneak away to the hot tub to get drunk enough to fall asleep next to her that night. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But right now, </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> were here with him. He was so glad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You opened your mouth to speak but Charlie’s wet hand reached out and attempted to grab at your own hand to bring you in closer. You avoided it and he frowned, exhaling frustratedly. “Come on. You trust daddy, don’t you?” He asked you in his deep voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You stared at him, at how gorgeous he looked shirtless and practically begging you to join him. You sighed as you set your towel onto a chair beside the tub and pulled your pajamas off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie smiled, pleased as he watched you. He moved back into his original spot in the hot tub, leaning his back against the seat. He was too big for it, He was too big for everything. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were thankful for how comforting the warm water was as you carefully stepped inside of it, your damp swimsuit cold against your skin. You let out a small noise of relief as you lowered yourself into the water, unable to stop the way you were grinning. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I brought you this.” He told you, handing you the glass of wine that was beside his own glass. “I thought you might need something to calm down.” He said to you almost in a teasing way but he meant it. He remembered the first time the two of you had sex, when you had needed a pep talk to take your clothes off. He didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks.” You said gratefully, taking the glass from him. He was so thoughtful.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two of you sat in silence for a few minutes, taking in the feeling of just being alone with each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come closer.” Charlie then requested, tipsy and needy for you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You looked back to the house again, eyes darting back and forth between him and the building. “This is so dumb.” You told him, setting the wine onto the ledge behind you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe.” Charlie agreed with you. It was dumb, really dumb. But he didn’t even care. When he was with you he was constantly chasing this feeling of being </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive</span>
  </em>
  <span>, craving it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You took a few moments to think it over. Fuck it. You scooted over along the seats until you were beside him, looking up at him with wide eyes as if to ask if you were doing alright. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie said nothing, instead he grabbed your hips and brought you even closer until you were sitting on his lap. He stared at you, a wistful smile on his face. It felt unreal that you were this close to him after being so far from him all day. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>There’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> my good girl.” He murmured, putting his hand on your cheek.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You couldn’t help but giggle softly, feeling so much more secure now that you were in his arms. You moved in close, your forehead almost against his, biting your bottom lip nervously. It all felt like the first time with him again in this setting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie leaned his chin up until his lips were pressed against yours, his hand still on your cheek as his other one pulled you in closer against him. His tongue instantly ran along your lip, more desperate than usual because of the whiskey running through his veins. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You let out a small noise, eyebrows knitting together at the way you could feel him growing hard beneath you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you know how good you look in this?” He asked you in a low voice, fingers going to the strings on your bikini, tugging playfully. “Teasing me all day...I thought I was going to have to sneak away to the bathroom to touch myself when you started running around in it.” He muttered, lips moving against your neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your hands went to his hair, holding him against your neck where he was currently kissing. You let out a shaky breath, imagining Charlie sneaking away to the fancy house to masturbate, needing release just from seeing the way you looked in your swimsuit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You like that, don’t you?” Charlie teased you, tongue on the skin on your collarbone. He could feel the way you were subconsciously moving your hips against his, getting turned on by his words. “You love knowing that I’ve been fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>hard</span>
  </em>
  <span> for you all day.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nodded at his statement, letting out a tiny noise of pleasure at the way he was speaking to you and the way he was kissing you, holding you against his lap securely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t even try.” Charlie murmured, hands squeezing your hips. “You just showed up here and you made me ache for you… I’m so crazy about you, sweetheart.” He sighed. He knew it was true. He was fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>obsessed</span>
  </em>
  <span> with you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You tilted your head back, hands moving from his hair and back, up and down. You were about to ask him to fuck you, tell him that you needed him too. But then your eyes met the white siding of the house in front of you and you were reminded by where you were. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As you faltered slightly in your movements, your knee slipped from the position on the ledge it had been resting on, causing you to stumble slightly and grab onto the edge of the hot tub. As you did so, you accidently pressed a button there, the jacuzzi jets turning on. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck.” You muttered, “Is that too loud?” You asked, scrambling in an attempt to turn them off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie grabbed your hand, holding you tightly to him so that you didn’t fall again. “No, it’s fine, honey. Everything’s fine.” He assured you, turning the jets down to a lower setting just in case. “Look at me.” He requested gently, moving his hand up to place under your chin and force you to turn your head to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re fine.” He repeated in a soothing voice, eyes locked on yours. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His assurance made your stomach erupt in butterflies. It was always so easy for him to comfort you. “Okay.” You replied, biting the inside of your cheek in an attempt to calm down the giant grin on your face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It feels good, doesn’t it?” Charlie asked you, taking your tiny hand that was inside of his and bringing it towards the jet so that you could feel the way that the water was rushing out of it, causing bubbles on the surface of the water. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You giggled slightly and nodded, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> feel good, like a massage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s stare went from your hand up to your face, a glimmer of mischief in his dark honey colored eyes. “Let me show you something.” He murmured, letting go of his grip on your hand so that he could grab both of your hips, bringing you down beside him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were confused momentarily but then he positioned your hips above one of the lower jets and it all suddenly made sense to you. The stream of water was being sent almost directly onto your clit through the bikini bottoms you had on. You gasped in realization, going to move away from it before you could get lost in the feeling, embarrassed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Charlie!” You scolded him breathlessly, skin burning at how ashamed you felt for enjoying the feeling as much as you did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie had a big smirk on his face, his fingertips digging in slightly to your skin, holding you there. Your reactions were so fucking cute, it made him almost painfully hard to see you get so worked up. “Hm? What’s wrong?” He asked you, teasing, “Do you like it, sweetheart? It’s okay if you do, you can tell me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You wanted to deny it, feeling embarrassed by the fact but you knew it would be impossible to deny it. Charlie could always read you like a book. You nodded breathlessly, averting your eyes away from him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie reached over and put a finger under your chin, motioning your head towards him. “Look at me.” He muttered, “That’s it. Good girl.” He said in a soft voice when you forced yourself to look over at him instead of down at the water. “You don’t need to be shy. I know how good it feels, I want you to feel good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The stream of water was stimulating you in a way that made your back arch, grabbing onto the ledge in front of you to steady yourself. The sensation was similar to your vibrator, though just less powerful. You nodded at Charlie, letting yourself let out a tiny moan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>While keeping eye contact with you, he reached over and pressed a button, turning the jets up a level higher. The highest setting might be too loud, but this one was okay. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the feeling of the pressure increasing, you bit your lip to keep from moaning out loud, making a desperate little whimper instead. It really did feel amazing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that better, honey?” He asked you, moving in closer so that he could begin peppering kisses along your neck and collarbone. Charlie’s grip stayed on your hips, holding you there against the jet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nodded, tilting your head back so that he could have more access to your skin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie moved one the sides of your bikini top out of the way, hand going inside of the material so that your breast was now exposed. Your nipple hardened from being exposed to the air and he took the opportunity to eagerly wrap his lips around it, tongue running along the skin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You kept one hand on the ledge in front of you to hold you in place while the other went to the back of his head, fingers tangling into his soft hair. It was always so surprising how effortlessly he knew how to touch you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you think you can cum like this?” Charlie asked against your skin, in between the way his tongue was swirling around your nipple.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You thought about it, your hips squirming involuntarily. You weren’t sure. It wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>enough</span>
  </em>
  <span>. You needed direct contact. “I don’t know.” You sighed, the desperation evident in your voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie hummed against you, sucking at your nipple for a moment before pulling away. His hand cupped your breast and his thumb replaced his mouth to run along the sensitive nub while his kisses now went below your ear. “I want you to be my good girl and try for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nodded at his request, wanting to do whatever it took to make him proud of you. “I’ll try.” You said in a quiet voice, eyebrows knitted together in concentration. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie made a noise of approval, nibbling on the skin on your neck and pinching your nipple gently. “You can do it.” He said quietly, teeth grazing against your skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nodded, barely aware of where you were at the moment. Inside the house in front of you, Charlie’s family was asleep along with his close friends. This was all so risky but something about that made you even more turned on, the thrill of it all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You continued this way for a few minutes, hips squirming and rolling against the water spraying on your clit. It felt good, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> good. But it wasn’t enough for you. You didn’t think you could cum this way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You let out a noise of frustration, jaw tensing at how annoyingly close you were. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie had been extremely patient while he observed you trying to get yourself there, taking in all the little faces and noises you made. He could watch you for hours. But he could see that you were getting discouraged with the amount of contact that you were getting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong?” He asked, mouth near your ear. “Is my girl getting frustrated?” Charlie asked in almost a taunting way, a hint of smirk on his full lips because he already knew how frustrated you really were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nodded, practically pouting without even meaning to. “Yes.” You breathed, eyes fluttering open to glance over at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie sighed in appreciation, at how adorable you were. “You poor thing. My poor baby.” He cooed, kissing your skin. “You need daddy, don’t you? You can’t do it on your own.” He chided, eyes twinkling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please.” You said, no longer embarrassed by your desperation. You were painfully close. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie pulled away, glancing around. He knew what he needed to do but he wasn’t sure exactly how he wanted to do it. After a few moments of his slow tipsy thoughts forming a solution, he was suddenly picking you up in his arm while turning the jets of the water off with the other hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Charlie.” You said in a rushed voice, looking all around, worried. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shh.” He reminded you, holding you close while he carefully stepped out of the hot tub. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You let yourself give in to the trust you had in him, allowing him to carry you over to one of the tables near the hot tub, a patio chair. He sat down on it and kept you on his lap, your back against his chest, ass pressed against his erection inside of his wet swim trunks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to fuck you right here but you have to promise to keep quiet. You can’t get us in trouble.” Charlie said from behind you, hand going under your swimsuit bottoms so that he could begin spreading your wetness from your slit to your clit, distributing it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He might’ve had one or two drinks too many to make any big decisions but even so, Charlie was aware of what he needed to do to be careful. There was no way for anyone to see the two of you inside of the house because of where the hot tub was situated. If someone were to walk outside, the two of you would hear the loud sliding glass door shut before they could see you. If that were to happen...well, he’d have to think quickly on his feet. But he was willing to do that right now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You took a shaky breath. You should say no. But the feeling of his long fingers rubbing against your sensitive clit, made any doubts diminish. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>needed</span>
  </em>
  <span> this. “I’ll be quiet.” You assured him, demonstrating that statement by speaking in a soft voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie nodded as he pushed you forward on his lap enough for him to shimmy his shorts down, freeing his hard cock from the confines of the wet material. Usually he took his time with you, getting you warmed up and comfortable. But he couldn’t take it any longer, he’d been craving you all day and you were finally here, he had to do this now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After pulling your swimsuit bottoms down, he spit on his hand and ran the saliva up and down his length, coating it. Then he moved you back against him, his cock in between your ass, teasing himself with the feeling. He momentarily moved both of his hands onto your hips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want you to sit on it, honey. Sit on my cock.” He encouraged you, gripping your skin there as you cautiously raised yourself up from his lap, hands on the arms of the chair to do so. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your heart was pounding in your ears as you lowered yourself down again, sticking your ass out in a way that made it easier for your entrance to be lined up along the head of his throbbing erection. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was watching you closely, staring at the way he disappeared inside of you as you sat down on his lap. It felt like heaven. He wrapped his arms tightly around you to hold you in place, mouth against your shoulder to keep him from moaning out in the way that he wanted to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You had your eyes shut tightly, not even breathing because you knew if you did, you’d let out a loud noise. It always caught you off guard how big he was inside of you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s hand went up to your mouth, covering it there to muffle any sounds that you might make. “So tight for me. So perfect. Daddy’s perfect little girl.” He rambled in your ear, speaking in a strained voice, feeling the way that you were clenching around him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nodded against his hand, doing your best to let him know you appreciate the compliments without saying it out loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie then began guiding you up and down on top of him, slowly at first so that he could appreciate how amazing it felt. But then as he felt your thighs tremble and heard a whine get caught in your throat, he couldn’t help himself anymore. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He started gripping your hips and moving you so that you were bouncing on top of him, taking all of him as he stretched you out, hitting all the walls that you needed him too, especially from his angle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re taking all of me, sweetheart. You’re doing such a good job, you’re so good for daddy.” Charlie said in a low voice, lips near your ear. Besides his murmuring, the only sounds you could hear were the noises of your skin against his skin, smacking together each time you quickly lowered yourself down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You could feel the metal of his wedding ring against your lips as his hand covered your mouth. The thought of his wife being in the house behind you made hot shame rise in your stomach. You loved it, for whatever sick reason.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stay quiet.” He reminded you, his voice faltering at the way you were fucking him. As he said this he brought his free hand down in between your legs, easily finding your clit. He began rubbing gentle but quick circles, jaw clenching at how you instantly tightened around him as he did so. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You had been so close earlier when you were in the water with him that his fingers against your clit sent instant shockwaves through your system. You let out a muffled whimper against his hand, your rhythm of riding him turning sloppier with the orgasm approaching you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In all honesty, Charlie could cum right now too. He had barely been able to touch you all week at work, the two of you had hardly been alone. Then after being forced to watch you jump around in your little bikini earlier and having to hold himself back, was almost too much for him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He glanced down at how gorgeous you looked, ass bouncing against his thighs and he involuntarily squeezed at the grip on your face, making you gasp in surprise and pleasure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want you to cum for me.” Charlie requested in a shaky voice, fingers speeding up on your clit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You didn’t need to be told, you wouldn’t have been able to hold back for a few more moments anyways. You focused on all the details. The way he was squeezing your face, his ring against your skin, the feeling of his large fingers on your clit, his cock stretching you...You squeezed the arms of the chair beneath you, feeling the orgasm overwhelm you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s eyebrows furrowed, lips pursed in concentration trying his best not to groan loudly at the feeling. You were so tight around him, your throbbing muscles working his cock in the best way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t even realize it was happening until it was too late. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie came inside of you, his free hand holding your hips down on top of him, keeping you there as he filled you full of him. He bit down onto your shoulder, muffling himself as his hips twitched upwards, riding out his high as much as possible, feral for the feeling of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were aware that he finished inside of you, obviously not able to pull a condom out of his swimsuit bottoms. You didn’t mind. You were on birth control and although you appreciated the fact that he always wore condoms with you, you didn’t mind if he chose not to. You loved the feeling of it, it was like he was claiming you, making you his. It was all you wanted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck.” He muttered, moving away your shoulder to tilt his head back. His damp chest was heaving up and down heavily, trying his best to catch his breath. He moved his hand away from your mouth and his grip automatically went to your waist, pulling you against him in almost a hug. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You relaxed against his chest, your hands on his arms that were wrapped around you. You didn’t want to ever leave this position. You wanted to spend forever with Charlie inside of you, alone together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look at me, sweetheart.” Charlie requested, out of breath. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You obeyed, staring down at him over your shoulder. He looked perfect. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A moment passed, both of you taking in how attracted you were to each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you.” Charlie finally said to you, eyes wide at the sincerity of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh, raising an eyebrow. “You’re thanking me? For what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie thought about it. He couldn't put it into words. He was just so grateful for you, he couldn’t remember the last time that he was this happy. It didn’t matter how everything else in his life was on fire, going to shit. At the end of the day he knew he had you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Thank you for trusting me. It means so much to me.” He decided on, gaze not faltering from yours. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your heart fluttered. You weren’t sure how to respond. You were oddly emotional from seeing how desperate Charlie was for the validation and comfort you gave him. It broke your heart. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Really, you were the same way. You were so lonely in this new city and being able to have these moments with him, regardless of how wrong they were, made it all better. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You bent down and pressed your lips against his, humming softly at the feeling. You were so thankful too. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Infidelity</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Charlie Barber is so fucking handsome.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You kept thinking that to yourself as you watched him during rehearsal. He was directing the cast, pointing to various spots on the stage, wildly gesturing with his hands. He was so passionate, so knowledgeable. He knew exactly what he wanted and how to articulate it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It made you throb, squirming in your seat as you observed. You were sitting in the front row, leg crossed over the other and a notebook in your lap. Now and then, Charlie would call out to you, telling you what notes he needed you to jot down for him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were thankful that you weren’t the one taking acting directions from him because you would’ve been a mess, flustered and fidgety as he told you what to do. It was bad enough just being told what to write down for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I have my back turned for this line, how will the audience know who I’m talking to?” One of the actresses asked Charlie. “Am I overthinking it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You watched the way Charlie put a hand to his mouth, thinking, gears turning in his head almost visibly. A small detail he hadn’t taken into consideration. “I don’t think it should matter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The actress frowned, “I don’t know…” She trailed off, thinking about it. She didn’t want to argue with him but it didn’t feel right to her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charle’s frown deepened. His hands went to his hips, thinking it through. His attention unexpectedly turned towards you. “What do you think?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your eyes widened. Everyone’s attention turned on you and it made you shift uncomfortably, recrossing your legs over the other. You hadn’t been expecting him to ask for your input. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You’d been whispering to him all morning, telling him little details and mistakes you noticed. He seemed to like your feedback but you didn’t think he’d ask for it in front of everyone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s eyes stayed on yours and he offered you a gentle, soothing smile. He could see your nerves. It was cute. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I um…” You tried to think, “I don’t see why it would be an issue for her to turn away from the audience </span>
  <em>
    <span>after</span>
  </em>
  <span> she says the line...It doesn't really take away from the delivery of it.” You answered, sharing your honest opinion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie kept his stare on you as he ran it through in his mind. “Okay. Let’s try that.” He decided, gracefully hopping off of the side of the stage, hands clasped together as he made his way to the seats. “From the top, guys.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He took a seat beside you, his large frame brushing against yours without even meaning to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You glanced up at him and were met with a discreet wink as if he were telling you ‘good job’. It made butterflies swarm in your stomach, so eager to get praise from him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You watched carefully as the actress took your directions, turning her back after saying the line instead of before like she previously had. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie made a hum of approval, liking the way it flowed. He took the notebook from your lap and the purple pen from your hand. His mouth went over the cap, pulling it off and keeping it balanced between his lips. He wrote on your paper, assumingly jotting down a note to do it that way in the future. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You frowned in confusion when you then watched how he tore off the area of the paper that he’d just written on. He folded it in half, placing it in your lap along with the notebook and pen before standing up from his seat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, that looked good.” Charlie announced to them, “Nice work.” He moved over to the stage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He kept talking, giving more directions but you were distracted now. You discreetly unfolded the piece of torn paper:</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Prop closet. During break’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Was all that it said, scribbled quickly in his rushed writing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You glanced up at him, noticing the way he was biting the inside of his cheek to stop from grinning as he thought about what he had just told you.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>You only had fifteen minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You waited a few moments after Charlie went in the direction of the closet, knowing better at this point than to make anything obvious between the two of you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door was shut but you knew you didn’t need to knock, instead, you slowly opened it, peering inside. It was slightly dark, only one of the dim light bulbs lit in the back, hanging from the ceiling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The second you were inside of the doorway, you were being pressed against the closest wall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s large frame loomed over you as he quietly shut and locked the door behind you, his body keeping your back against the wall beside it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi, sweetheart.” He grinned, talking in a low quiet voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You let out a breathless giggle, feeling almost lightheaded from his attention and proximity in a place this risky. “Hi.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wasting no time, Charlie’s lips went to your neck while his hands went to your waist, squeezing you there. You were surprised, not expecting this right away, not right now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie didn’t want to throw away a single second alone with you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck, you're so pretty.” He breathed against your skin, spreading warmth throughout your entire body. “And smart. You’re really good at this, you know. You’ve been impressing me all morning.” He hummed, referring to your internship, all of the details you helped him with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You made a soft noise. His compliments always made you feel like you were floating. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What time is it?” He asked you in between kisses, knowing that you were able to see the clock over his shoulder in the position that you were standing in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You blinked, trying to focus, it was so difficult to do so when he was touching you like this. It was easy for you to almost forget that you were at work right now.”10:22.” You told him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thirteen minutes.” He muttered, working it through in his brain. Charlie let a hand run down the side of your body, sneaking under your skirt. He quietly grunted when he felt the soft material of your little panties. “Just enough time to make you cum.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You gulped, heart pounding. “Sh-should we?” You asked, hips squirming against his hand that was searching all over your skin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie pretended to think about it, as if he didn’t plan this since the second he saw you walk in the door this morning. “We should.” He told you, lips brushing against your ear. “I’m the boss, remember? Who’s going to tell me no?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hadn’t meant that statement to be posed towards you. You could tell him no whenever you wanted and he’d respect that. He really just meant that he was in charge, as long as you didn't get caught, there was no one to get him in trouble. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But something about it made you gasp quietly. Charlie was always so sweet to you. Thinking about him saying that you couldn’t deny him right now...It made you throb. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could never say no to you, Charlie. You could have me whenever you wanted.” You admitted, skin heating up in embarrassment. It was true. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s lips pulled away from your throat so that he could press them against yours in a kiss. He sighed at the feeling, always being surprised by how much he loved a simple act like kissing you. He could do it all day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His fingers expertly rubbed against you, somehow always knowing exactly how to find your clit even with the fabric covering you. You squeezed his shoulder at the contact, a shock of it going through your body. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know what to do, honey, don’t you? You’re used to it by now. Stay quiet for me.” Charlie said, voice smooth and soothing. It allowed you to worry about nothing besides his fingers against you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nodded and made an attempt to answer him to let him know that you would. But before you could, he was slipping his fingers inside of your underwear and you made a noise of surprise instead, a quiet one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm.” Charlie hummed, grinning at you when he felt how wet you already were. “You’re perfect.”  He praised you, his middle finger slipping into your folds, dipping in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your skin was on fire, leaning against the wall while your hands grasped at his shoulders, his soft sweater.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could see how flustered you were all morning, I thought you might just be nervous. But I think I know why now.” He teased you, spreading your wetness from your entrance to your clit, earning a noise from you in return. “My little girl was getting herself all worked up, wasn’t she?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You made a tiny whimper, trying to keep your voice down. You nodded as you made eye contact with him. “I love watching you work. You do such a good job. It turns me on.” You told him sincerely. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s mouth opened slightly in response, always taken back by your compliments. You were the only one who gave them to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re such a good girl.” He groaned softly, putting his free hand on the side of your face so that you were staring up at him as he began running his fingers over your clit, rubbing you in a slow but steady motion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You squeezed his shoulder, looking into his eyes as you started moving your hips against his touch. “Fuck.” You muttered, which earned a chuckle from Charlie. You cussed all the time and it always amused him, it seemed so out of place from someone like you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My good little intern.” He smirked, staring down at your body, watching the way you were reacting to his touch. “Giving her boss what he needs, even on her break. Such a hard worker.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You let out a shaky exhale, clearly affected by his dirty words. “I just wanna make my boss proud.” You said, eyes dancing slightly as you watched him stare at you. “Are you proud of me, Mr. Barber?” You asked in a pleading voice, his fingers starting to stroke you quicker.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, sweetheart.” Charlie groaned, hand moving in rushed circles. “Daddy’s so proud of you. You know what would make him even happier though?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm?” You asked a whimper. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you cum all over daddy’s fingers. If you keep quiet for him and let him make you feel good.” Charlie said lowly. His hand that had been on the side of your face cautiously moved down to your neck. He didn’t squeeze you hard but he wrapped his hand around the side of your throat, a threat of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please.” You sighed, your muscles starting to tighten up warmly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were so cute and so desperate, if you two weren’t supposed to be quiet, Charlie would’ve made you say ‘please’ louder. But now wasn’t the time. “Okay, baby.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he said that, he inserted two of his fingers slowly inside of you, twisting his hand so that his thumb could brush over your clit  in the same fast rhythm that his other fingers had been.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You gasped, moving so that you could bury your face into the crook of Charlie’s neck in an attempt to silence yourself, grabbing onto him tightly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie could’ve died right there. Feeling you hold him so close as your muscles began to clench around his fingers, making tiny little noises against his neck. It was like heaven. “Just like that.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He continued these motions for a few minutes, fucking you with his fingers and working your clit, holding you steady in place. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh! I-I…” You trailed off, unable to tell him that you were going to cum because you were nervous that you would end up speaking too loudly if you did. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie knew what you were trying to communicate. He didn’t stop his motions, holding you tightly against him. He could feel your muscles flutter around his fingers as you dug your face further into his neck, keeping yourself quiet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You felt like you could see stars, cumming hard and quick.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He whispered to you that you were a good girl over and over again, holding you tightly in his grip to make sure that you were comfortable on your feet. His cock ached inside of his pants, feeling how tight you were around his fingers and wishing that it was him instead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>If he had more than ten minutes, he would’ve fucked you, that was for sure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As you came down from your high, Charlie gently pulled away from you so that he could make eye contact with you again, prying you away from the way you were hiding in the shoulder of his cardigan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had a big grin on his face, as he slowly moved his hand out from inside of your panties. “You did great, honey. Do you want to keep making your boss proud?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nodded, in a daze, taking deep breaths to bring yourself back to Earth. “Mhm.” You answered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie brought his hand up to your mouth, “Clean yourself off of my fingers. I can’t be all wet when we go back to work.” He told you in a gentle voice, the tips of his fingers against your lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You giggled, embarrassed. You blinked up at him, hesitating for only a small moment before wrapping your lips around his fingers. Your skin was on fire when you realized you could taste yourself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was watching you with slightly parted lips, muttering out a breathless, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘fuck’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>as he stared at all the little faces and noises you were making as you sucked on his fingers</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When you were sure that you had gotten all of your taste off his skin, you pulled away with a gentle ‘pop’ sound, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good girl.” He teased you, chuckling, “Maybe I should start paying you. You work so hard for me.” Charlie joked. If you could get paid for letting Charlie do filthy things to you in secretive closets all day, you would not be opposed. You were already doing it for free. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No kidding.” You muttered, chuckling, straightening out your skirt and smoothing your shirt back down, fixing your hair. You stole a glance up at him and a smile formed on your face, mirroring his. You couldn’t help yourself from standing on your toes and pressing your lips against his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie sighed softly, the faint taste of yourself on your lips from how you’d just cleaned off his fingers. It was addicting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He pulled away, brushing some hair away from your eyes. “You should head out. I’ll be out when the break’s over.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nodded, agreeing. “See you soon.” You smirked, thrilled at the idea that you would have to pretend as if nothing happened in front of your co-workers. Like your boss hadn’t just given you a knee-shaking orgasm in the prop closet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie watched you go, appreciating how careful and quiet you were as you peered out into the hallway and closed the door behind you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grunted under his breath as he adjusted his hard cock in his pants. He’d have to calm down a bit before he went back out there in front of everyone.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>During lunch, as usual, you and Charlie were eating alone in his office. Today he picked up some food before work, stopping by a place a few blocks away. You had only mentioned once in passing what kind of sandwiches were your favorite but somehow he remembered, getting the order exactly how you liked it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve never done it.” You told him after taking a drink from your water bottle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You haven’t?” Charlie asked, an amused smile on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You gave him a look. “Is it really that surprising? I wouldn’t like the attention.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two of you were discussing karaoke. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He brought up the fact that the company sometimes went to an open mic night and if he was feeling up to it, he’d participate. You’d been to a few karaoke nights and bars but you’d never done it yourself, always too embarrassed to do so in that setting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie grinned as he imagined it. How cute you’d be. He shrugged. “You said you were into acting before deciding you wanted to go the directing route. Lots of attention on you when you do that, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You thought about it, contemplating. “Well, that’s different. When I was acting I was pretending to be someone else.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His smile fell to a frown. He understood what you meant but it was hard to wrap his head around. Why wouldn’t you want to be yourself? You were perfect.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before he could comment on it, he watched the way you sighed under your breath as you spilled a few small crumbs onto your lap. You brushed them off, fingers grazing against your bare thigh as you did so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It caused Charlie’s attention to go to the top of your high socks, eyebrows raising, remembering. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Charlie mumbled, his mouth completely full. He covered it sheepishly with his hand, turning towards his bag that he brought his work supplies in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You raised an eyebrow, trying not to smirk too hard at the way he was quickly trying to chew and swallow the food in his mouth. It was always shocking to see how big of bites he took. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He held a finger up to you, telling you wordlessly to hold on for a minute as he searched through his bag. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie grabbed at it and set it in your lap, easily leaning across the desk to do so. He swallowed his bite of food, wiping at his mouth with a napkin as he settled back in his seat. “I had to stop by the store this morning when I got our lunch”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You frowned in interest when you grabbed at what he’d just given you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A pair of thigh-high socks. Light gray and the softest material. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You probably already have some like that. It’s no big deal.” Charlie prefaced, “I saw them and thought of you. Then, I realized they’d match those pajamas of yours that I love so much and I couldn’t help myself.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You grinned, running your fingers over the material as you stared at them. Your skin was warm as you thought about the pajamas he was referencing. Pink tank top and shorts, cartoon bunnies on them the same exact color of the socks he’d just given you. When he spent the night with you he wouldn’t let you take them off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You tried to imagine how Charlie must have looked as he checked out at the cash register. You wondered what else he bought. Maybe something Henry needed? Office supplies? It made your heart skip a beat as you imagined him bringing up some pens, maybe some medicine for at home, along with these socks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love them.” You told him sincerely, practically swooning at how sweet it was that he thought to bring these to you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like I said, no big deal,” Charlie said to you, leaning back in his rolling chair. He was casual but in reality, his heart was racing too. He’d never done something so bold in public like that. If someone would’ve seen him check out with those, how would he have been able to explain himself? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He decided that he would’ve told them that the costume department needed something similar and he was just grabbing them there. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But still, Charlie knew it wasn’t the truth. It was such a rush for something so small. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> a big deal.” You disagreed, still gazing down at them.”Thank you.” You added, looking back up at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie grinned widely, pleased by the enamored look you were giving him. It really had been nothing, but it meant a lot to him that it meant so much to you. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.” He said gently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You sighed happily, inspecting them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do have one condition, though.” Charlie wiped his hands on the napkin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You raised an eyebrow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have to wear them for me the next time we’re alone. Nothing else. Just the socks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You could do that. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Later that day, Charlie made plans with you to stop by your apartment that night. He said he’d stop at home to eat dinner then tell Nicole that he needed to stop back at the theater to check on something. He’d lie and say the guys he shared his office with needed help going through a few boxes of documents.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie couldn’t help himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>All day, all he could think about was you. Naked. In those socks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had to get you alone. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>When you arrived at your apartment, you wasted no time cleaning the place up the best that you could.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was coming over. You were so fucking excited.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wouldn’t be the first time he stopped by but it was the first time that you were prepared for him. In the past, it had always been welcome, but unexpected. You were glad that you could finally prepare. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You cleaned everything. Not just put everything away but you wiped down the countertops, scrubbed the toilet, vacuumed. It was the most you’ve done since moving in. If your large, handsome, married boss was going to be the reason you got your shit together, then so be it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When it was up to what you assumed Charlie’s standards were, you got yourself clean as well. You took your time in the shower, shaving, and using your favorite soap. When you got out you put some makeup on, the perfect smelling lotion and perfume.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You kept your fluffy robe on as your bare feet padded out to the main area of your apartment. You had about fifteen minutes until he was supposed to show up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You poured yourself a glass of wine before you began lighting a few candles, setting the mood. You weren’t really sure how to do this, you never had before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before you decided to relax on the bed to wait for him, you grabbed the socks from your table, where you set them when you first got home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You knew what Charlie wanted. Nothing on. Just the socks. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>A few hours earlier, Charlie had walked into his apartment, trying to hide the spring in his step. It wasn’t often that he came home from work in such a light mood. But today he was, knowing where he was going later that night: your apartment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Henry was laying on his stomach on the living room floor, putting together a puzzle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi.” Charlie grinned, slipping his shoes off as he made his way inside.”That looks cool.” He said, motioning to the puzzle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Henry ignored him, too focused on the task in front of him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie frowned but said nothing more, not wanting to waste his energy trying to get his son’s attention. It never worked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Making his way into the kitchen, he raised his eyebrows at what he saw. Nicole standing in front of the counter, plating pizza from a to-go box. She must’ve ordered some which is something she never did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pizza?” He asked, gently touching her shoulder as he squeezed in behind her to open the fridge and grab a beer from it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh hi.” Nicole greeted him, glancing over her shoulder. “Yeah, from the place down the street. I needed something quick tonight.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie frowned in confusion. He didn’t understand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, shit.” Nicole sighed, “I meant to text you but it slipped my mind, I’ve been running around everywhere today.” She wiped her hands off on a washcloth before turning towards him, leaning her back against the counter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He took a sip of his beer, putting his free hand on his hip, fingers against the leather of his belt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That therapist got back to me.” She said in a hushed voice, not wanting Henry to overhear. “It was all last minute, he just got an opening, but he likes to meet his clients at their houses first. I told him yes because I wasn’t sure when else we’d get this opportunity.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s face fell, swallowing hard. The marriage counselor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’d been waitlisted for a while now. It was something they discussed the minute that they started realizing their marriage wasn’t as strong as they previously thought. It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision to add their names to his list. They both assumed that they’d work their problems out themselves before the counselor ever got back to them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clearly, that was not the case. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s coming here? Tonight?” Charlie asked, trying to piece it together. Out of all nights? Fuck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, in forty-five minutes,” Nicole told him. Then she peered over his shoulder into the living room so that she could call Henry’s name, telling him to come to the kitchen so that he could start eating.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait,” Charlie stepped in front of Nicole, blocking Henry from getting into the kitchen. “What are we telling Henry? A strange man is showing up in our home to talk about our problems. I don’t want him here for that.” He said, referencing his son. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicole sighed, gently touching Charlie’s arm to move him out of the way so that Henry could get in the kitchen. “He wants Henry involved tonight, he’s just trying to get to know us and our situation. He said it helps for everyone to be open about the process.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Charlie’s mind was reeling, there was a lot to take in at once. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He told me to think of him more of a family counselor, not just a marriage one.” Nicole put a plate in front of Henry after he sat down at the table. “I already talked to Henry about it, didn’t I?” She asked Henry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Henry nodded. “Someone’s coming over to teach us how to get along better.” He shrugged, taking a bite of the pizza. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie felt sick. He didn’t know what to say. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to work on his marriage at this point. He knew that he should, he should be thrilled at the idea that it might improve. But he wasn’t.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> As much as he hated to admit it to himself, he knew the reason why he was so apathetic. He wanted </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>While Charlie thought about that, he remembered that he told you he’d stop by your apartment when he was done with dinner. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He took a long drink from his beer, gulping more than half of it in one sip. “I’m going to change my clothes.” He muttered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie didn’t wait for a response, he left the kitchen and headed towards his bedroom down the hall. His hand instantly went for his phone in his pocket, unlocking it with his fingers that were far too big for the screen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had just gotten to his contact list, scrolling to find your name when he heard Nicole enter the room behind him. He locked his phone back up, putting it back in his pocket, not wanting an opportunity to get caught or questioned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, Charlie. I really thought I told you earlier. I could’ve told him no, but...He just ever has any openings and we wanted to see him so bad that one night, I thought you’d be excited-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie cut her off. “It’s okay, really. I just had a long day and talking to a stranger about my problems isn’t something I’m dying to do right now, you know?” He muttered, turning his back to her to start undressing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicole bit the inside of her cheek, thinking. “I know. I mean...I’m not looking forward to it either. I’ve never done anything like this before, I have no idea what to expect.” She said honestly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He glanced over his shoulder, giving her a look of agreement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a rare moment of understanding between the two of them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were a few beats of quietness as Charlie grunted under his breath, trying to shrug his cardigan off of his shoulder, getting tangled up in it slightly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicole instantly reached forward and grabbed it, helping him take it off completely.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another rare comfortable moment together, helping each other without any arguments.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks.” He muttered, moving to the closet so that he could hang the sweater up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” Nicole said, hesitant, making Charlie turn around to face her with concern. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re okay, right?” She frowned. “I mean, I know things haven’t been easy lately but...we’ll talk to this therapist once a week and work on it and...it’ll get better right? We can get back to normal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie felt like he could vomit right there in front of her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t know what to say. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah. We’re okay.” He decided, giving her a strained smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were far from it. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>And the same could be said about you, as you laid there in bed, two hours after Charlie said he’d stop by. Of course, you were disappointed that he wasn’t currently inside of you, making you moan his name. But really...You felt fucking stupid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You knew you couldn’t text him and ask if he was still coming over, you could never text him out of the blue. It was frustrating, you had no way to contact him if you weren’t physically together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After the third hour of waiting around, naked in your socks and robe, you realized it was useless. He wasn’t coming over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You blew out the candles with a sigh before you got into comfortable pajamas, unflattering ones (because who was going to see them?), with the socks he bought you balled up in the corner of the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You should’ve known it was too good to be true. Thinking about Charlie coming over casually after work seemed too normal, seemed too </span>
  <em>
    <span>real</span>
  </em>
  <span>. This was a harsh reminder of the situation the two of you were in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t belong to you. He had a family, that’s who he was with right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And while Charlie had been with his wife and son, you’d been naked in bed waiting for him. You felt so fucking stupid and </span>
  <em>
    <span>gross</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You settled into bed, pulling your blankets up while you got your phone out. Time to mindlessly scroll to distract yourself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You went on a few different social media sites, staring at the photos that your friends posted. Anniversary posts, selfies with their boyfriends, pictures of their new houses together…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You’d never have that with Charlie, you realized. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were the other woman. That was it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You sighed when you felt the way that tears were forming in your eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This night in particular wasn’t a huge deal and you knew that. Sure, he couldn’t come over when he said he would, it sucked but it was no big deal. You could brush it off in the morning. But it made your thoughts spiral. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was easy to forget how wrong this was when you were with him because it always felt so right. You felt no guilt when you were alone with him because he was always making you laugh and smile and blush but now that you were all on your own, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> thinking about it….</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You put your phone down on your dresser, pulling your blanket further up your body with a sniffle, wiping your eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your sister was right when she told you that you should stay away from Charlie. You were very good at getting yourself caught up in hopeless situations.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You grabbed at your phone again, glancing at the time. Not too late. You wanted to call your sister, Erin. She would be so mad at you for sneaking around with Charlie but at least you could share your feelings with someone, vent about it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hours later, Charlie was standing on the balcony of his apartment, leaning his elbows on the railing. He blew smoke out from the side of his mouth, a cigarette hanging from his fingers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was rough. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The counselor had just talked to him and Nicole about what their everyday lives were like, how they met. He talked to Henry for a while, asking him about how he was doing, just trying to get the bigger picture. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie knew that it would be a helpful process...If he actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted</span>
  </em>
  <span> the help. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But the entire time, all he could think about was you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the therapist asked about what their goals were for therapy, Charlie found himself at a loss. He didn’t have a goal anymore. Before, he just always wanted his family back to normal. And although a part of him still wanted that, for Henry’s sake, he didn’t exactly want his marriage with Nicole back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before he met you, he probably would’ve been more complacent in his situation. He’d feel stuck with Nicole and would've tried anything to work their marriage out just so that they could give Henry the best life possible. But now that he knew you, he realized how much more life had in store for him. He didn’t feel </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive</span>
  </em>
  <span> with Nicole, he did with you. Charlie wanted that all the time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The therapist made a list of things they would work on together, topics that were going to be discussed when they met at his office next week. It all felt so phony and fake to Charlie. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Throughout the process, he could only think about you. Charlie knew he was supposed to be at your apartment. He was praying that you'd understand that he tried to make it but couldn’t. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hadn’t even gotten the chance to text you and tell you he couldn’t come over, Nicole was always around and it made him too nervous to send a quick text in the bathroom in case you decided to respond to him when he wasn’t alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie had no idea how much effort you put into him stopping by, how you waited for hours and hours, in the cute little socks he bought you, on your bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He glanced behind him, through the sliding glass door. Everyone in the apartment was asleep, he could see the way that all the lights were off, they had been for a while.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie stuck the cigarette back in between his lips as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His finger hovered over your name in his contacts, wanting to call you so that he could explain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A conversation from earlier that night echoed in his mind as he did so:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The therapist glanced behind him, making sure that Henry was out of earshot before he leaned forward, talking in a hushed tone. “I have to ask...Has there been any infidelity during the marriage?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Charlie’s heart stopped. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Before you became his intern, there hadn’t been any unfaithfulness. He never thought he would have the balls and lack of morals to cheat on Nicole. But here he was, thinking about you and your little skirts and the way you moaned his name when he should be attempting to save his marriage. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“No.” Charlie had said, shaking his head, keeping his voice unsuspicious.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nicole agreed, “No infidelity. Charlie and I wouldn’t do that. Things have been hard but we’d never take it to that level.” She said confidently as if she were trying to convince the therapist as much as she was trying to convince herself. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The therapist nodded, “Okay, that’s good. I only have to know because that would change a lot of steps in this process.” He explained before he began talking more about the process itself, what they would start working on first. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Charlie wasn’t listening. He was a cheater. It always surprised him when it hit him.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His eyes stared at your name, lips in a slight pout as he thought it over. What if Nicole decided to crack the bedroom window and she overheard the conversation? What if she needed some water and checked on him, catching him? What if, god forbid, Henry heard something?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie took a long drag of the cigarette, nerves getting to him. He couldn’t call you. He was too anxious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He put his phone back in his pocket, cursing under his breath. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>God, he wanted you here. It was becoming increasingly clear to him that he didn’t know what to do if you weren’t around making him smile and laugh. You always knew how to cheer him up and distract him even without meaning to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie swallowed hard, finger tapping his cigarette to get rid of excess ash. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t deserve you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He pulled his phone back out, pulling up a new tab so that he could google search for florists near him. Charlie wanted to buy you flowers, write a little note telling you that he was sorry. Maybe he could get them sent to your apartment before you even left and you could come to work in a good mood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He scrolled through the website, finding which flowers you’d like best, which ones reminded him of you. There was a light purple and pink arrangement, delphiniums, and wolf’s bane with a few white roses scattered in between. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perfect. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knew it wasn’t enough. But maybe, it would help. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>You hung up the call with your sister. You thought it would help but it just made you feel shittier. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erin had spent almost all of the thirty-minute phone call scolding you for being involved with a married man. She kept reminding you that she was also married and how devastating it would be for her family if her husband cheated on her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was right, you hated to think about it or admit it to yourself, but what you were doing was </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrible</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You stared up at the ceiling, tears leaking from the sides of your eyes, collecting on your pillowcase beneath you. How could you do this? How did you have the ability to knowingly ruin a family every day?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before you hung up, your sister made you promise something to her:</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were going to end it with Charlie.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Alone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Charlie Barber was the first person to ever buy you flowers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You cried every time you saw them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The day after Charlie had been too busy meeting with his family’s new counselor to come over and see you, the day you received the flowers, you took off work. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You sent a quick text to Charlie that morning. It was straight to the point and professional, telling him that you woke up not feeling well and you’d have to stay home. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At first, he replied just as politely, thank you for letting him know and to feel better. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few hours later, after Charlie arrived at work and knew that there was no chance that anyone would be potentially reading his messages, he sent you six more:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>9:42 AM - I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it over last night. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>10:12 AM- We can talk about it tomorrow</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>11:33 AM - Are you feeling better? Do you need anything? I can stop by your place during lunch if you want. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>1:45 PM - Remind me to tell you what Frank did this morning. It was hilarious. You’ll love it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>2:30 PM - Did you get my flowers?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>5:02 PM - I’m going home now. Don’t reply.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>You didn’t reply to any of them. You weren’t sure what to say. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>If you went through with what you promised, ending things with Charlie, what did that mean for you? He was your boss. He was always so sweet to you and so protective but how would he react if you burned him? Would he fire you? Would you even want to work with him if he wasn’t fucking you on your fifteen minute breaks?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Being Henry’s babysitter wasn’t going to be easy either now, regardless of if you continued sneaking around with Charlie. Looking into his son’s eyes felt so wrong knowing that you were tearing his family apart. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You backed yourself into a corner. Your entire life in New York revolved around Charlie. Your job, your connections, your happiness… All Charlie. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You weren’t sure where that left </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The day that you stayed home from work, Charlie was a mess. Yes, he missed you but it wasn’t that, you had hardly been apart. It was the fact that not having you around allowed his guilt to truly hit him. When he was physically with you, he could let his happiness override the sick feeling he had deep down. When he went home at night, he could still ride that high knowing that he would see you the next day and that happiness would be back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But with you not around, all he was left with was the reminder that he was cheating on his wife with his intern. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt disgusting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie knew he was making a fool out of himself with the number of texts he sent you, looking down at the words on his screen he could see that each message he sent sounded more and more desperate, begging for you to respond. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> desperate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For what? He wasn’t sure. He was desperate for that feeling you gave him. The feeling of being alive, having something to look forward to, something to occupy his mind. It had been so long since he’d felt this way. He went so long just existing and tolerating.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was desperate for the blissfully ignorant state that your smile and laugh and eyes gave him daily. No matter how wrong the situation between the two of you was, it always felt so fucking right because it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You’d only been gone from his normal routine one day but it caused him to spiral, thinking about all of the ways he was betraying his family, second-guessing it all. It was the same thing that happened to you the night before when you called your sister. Suddenly, the gravity of your situation truly hit you just as it was hitting him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were the other woman.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Charlie was a cheater. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the same way that you realized all of your New York life revolved around Charlie, he was also realizing that all of his newfound happiness revolved around you. You two were both so dependent on the thrill that you gave each other that having it be put into question, even for just one night or one day, made the sickness of it all so clear. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the worst part was, regardless of how nauseous and conflicted your relationship made you feel, right now when you were apart, all that you and Charlie wanted was each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were each other’s source of anxiety and also each other’s source of comfort. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>When you returned to work the next day, you purposefully came in a few minutes late, trying to delay the amount of time that you and Charlie would have alone. Usually, you’d hang around for about ten minutes before work started, sipping coffee and giggling about something in the corner together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You didn’t feel ready for that. You still had it in your mind that you were going to end it, you didn’t know how to act normal with him with that in the back of your mind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When you entered the room, rehearsal was already underway, actors positioning themselves on the space on the floor where the stage would be when they were performing. Charlie was sitting on a folding chair, watching with a hand on his chin and the script in his lap. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was an empty seat beside him and you knew it was for you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You shuffled inside, trying to be silent and unseen. “Sorry.” You muttered to him, apologizing for the late arrival as you sat down on the seat. You couldn’t even look at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In contrast to your avoidance, Charlie’s eyes were trained right on you, staring at you. His mouth was still set in the same concentrated line but his eyes lit up. He could smell your familiar perfume.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re fine.” He told you in a soft, deep voice. “Feeling better?” He added, glancing between you and the actors now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You took a deep breath. You felt worse. “Kind of.” You answered anyways.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie said nothing. He felt this new coldness from you that wasn’t there the day before, it made his stomach twist. “Did you bring your copy?” He asked you, pointing to your empty lap. You had your own script you jotted your notes down on, just for your practice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You sighed, you had been so scatterbrained that morning that you forgot it. “No.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s okay,” Charlie assured you. He had to hold himself back from calling you ‘honey’ in the way he almost reflexively did so. “Write on mine if you need to. Just use your pen.” He reminded you. The purple pen, the one that stood out against his angry red one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your eyes didn’t meet his, staying on the way his large capable hands looked as he flipped through the pages. It always made you happy to know that he trusted you enough to let you write on his copy. Now that you were questioning everything about him, you wondered if he only trusted your judgment because you let him fuck you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Thanks.” You said softly, feeling nervous at the thought. What if you weren’t the right person for this job at all? What if the only reason you got it was because Charlie wanted you for himself?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was silent again, turning his attention back to the actors in front of him. “Um, okay, Matt? Your line first.” He directed them, pretending not to notice the awkward body language that you were displaying at his side. He told himself he was looking into it too much. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The entire morning went that way. Uncomfortable whispers and nudges against each other. Charlie assumed you didn’t feel good and he had this overwhelming urge to baby you and take care of you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was being attentive to you during each small break, asking if you were okay, assuring you that you could go back home if you wanted to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It just made you feel worse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your sister’s words kept echoing your mind from the phone the night before, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>How could you do this to someone else's family?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>When it was lunchtime, you grabbed for your purse, wanting to make an excuse to go get some air. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s hand gently covered your wrist, stopping you. It was just the two of you alone in the rehearsal room now, everyone else had quickly filed out to ensure that they had enough time to go out to lunch and make it back in time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Heading out?” He asked you with a frown. You two always ate lunch together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You glanced up at him, heart racing at the skin-to-skin contact you were feeling even if it was something as innocent as his hand on yours. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I brought you soup. I made it last night, I thought you might want it if you were sick.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your heart fluttered at that. Goddammit. Why did he have to be so fucking sweet? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie could see the look on your face, that shy and flustered look that always turned him on. That was a lot more familiar to him than how you’d been acting earlier. There was his little girl. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No celery, I promise.” He grinned, knowing how much you hated it. He’d purposefully left out when he made it even though it was part of the recipe, having to lie to Nicole and say he just forgot to include it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You couldn’t help the breathless giggle that left your chest. “Okay.” You agreed hesitantly. You couldn’t help yourself. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>You were alone in his office now, sitting across from him at his desk. He was leaning back in his office chair while you sat with one leg crossed over the other in a fold-out chair you always brought over from the back of the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie almost always finished his food a while before you did and today was no different. You swore he must’ve chugged his entire bowl of soup like it was a can of beer. You were barely a few spoonfuls in, but granted, you were nervous and didn’t have much of an appetite, to begin with. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was currently telling you about what Frank had done the day before, the thing that he texted you about. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anyways, he ended up asking me again before I left if he could add the kiss in. I don’t know how else to tell him to knock it off. You should’ve seen my face, I’m sure it was ridiculous.” Charlie grinned, laughing at the memory. His eyes were expectant on yours, confused as to why you weren't laughing as hard as he was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You let out a small chuckle. It was funny, you wanted to laugh, you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s smile slowly fell, watching the way yours never met your eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You two were silent for a few moments, the gentle sound of the box fan in the corner was the only sound that could be heard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You got the flowers though, right?” He broke the silence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You looked over at him and swallowed hard at his expression. He was wide-eyed, eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had so many things that he wanted to ask you. If you were okay, if you were mad at him still, if you were sad, why you weren’t giggling and smiling at him, etc. But Charlie was too proud to do that. He was nervous to hear the answer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I did.” You answered him, a hint of a genuine smile on your face. “They’re so pretty. Did you want to see?” You asked him, unable to be closed off with him when he was being so eager. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He automatically leaned forward, elbows on his desk so that he could be closer to you as you pulled your phone out. You handed him the phone, the photo of the flowers that were currently sitting on your coffee table. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, wow,” Charlie said, looking it over, holding it away from his face so that he could see it better, not wanting to put his reading glasses on to see it in front of you, embarrassed to show his age. “They’re nice.” He commented, smiling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You watched him react to it, chest sinking. You were falling for a married man. You felt so stupid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No one’s ever bought me flowers before.” You admitted, taking your phone back when he handed it over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie frowned at that. There was so much you’d never done, so many firsts that he was giving you. He couldn’t help but feel guilty. You should be experiencing them with someone who could give you everything, not just everything they could when their wife wasn’t around.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I’m glad you liked them.” He decided to say, casually twirling a stray pen on his desk in his fingers. “I am really sorry, by the way. I told them to write that in the card but I wasn’t sure if they did.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You remembered the card. It had just said; </span>
  <em>
    <span>“I’m sorry, sweetheart. -Charlie”</span>
  </em>
  <span> but it meant a lot to you. More than it should’ve. It meant so much to you that it hurt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They did.” You told him, playing with the edge of your napkin. “It’s okay. I understand.” You then added, finally looking over at him again. He looked so stressed, mind turning but no words coming out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I planned to stop by like I said. I swear.” Charlie told you. He wasn’t sure if he should tell you the details….but he felt obligated to. “We had a counselor come over. I didn't know that he was going to be there, it was a last-minute thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You wanted to puke. A counselor. A marriage counselor?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” You said quietly, not sure what else to say. You pushed the soup around in the bowl, moving your stare back down to that instead of on him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>God, Charlie wanted to kiss you. He didn’t know what to say and he wished that his actions could mean more than his words right now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your mind couldn’t be farther from his. “For you and Nicole?” You asked, clarifying. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” He responded, watching your expression as much as he could with the way you were looking down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fuck. You wanted to cry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>More silence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, the two of you started talking at the same time but your voice was surprisingly louder, drowning him out. “I guess I’m just confused.” You said, setting the bowl of soup down on his desk, wiping your hands with the napkin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“About what, honey?” Charlie asked, frowning, shifting in his seat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>trying</span>
  </em>
  <span> to work it out with her? I mean, I guess you should be, she’s your </span>
  <em>
    <span>wife</span>
  </em>
  <span> but what am I doing then? What are </span>
  <em>
    <span>we</span>
  </em>
  <span> doing, Charlie? Why are you making me soup?” You felt so stupid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erin, your sister, was right about everything. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She told you that he was using you, just fucking his intern to occupy his time. You were just a phase, she told you, he’d move on the second he found something else to excite him. You told yourself that she was being overprotective but...this was only proving her point in your mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were sick, I thought you’d want some,” Charlie replied, exasperated, purposefully only answering your last question about the lunch he brought you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You could’ve picked up the entire bowl and threw it at his head. “It’s not about the fucking soup!” You hissed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie blinked in surprise, leaning back in his seat. He wasn’t sure if you’d ever spoken to him that way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You took a deep breath, trying to steady yourself. You didn’t want to yell at him, you didn’t even want to upset him. But you also couldn’t keep this to yourself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought about you the entire time.” He admitted to you, swallowing hard. He wasn’t even sure why he said it. He was desperate again, to have you happy, he didn’t like you being upset with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You didn’t understand at first. Surely, he didn’t mean </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>? “You...thought about me? While you were talking to your marriage counselor?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His eyes went down to the pen still balancing in between his fingers. “Yeah.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You let out a short breath, in disbelief. “That’s so fucked up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was starting to get worked up himself now. What did you want from him? “I guess it is but I thought you’d like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do!” You snapped back, “That’s what’s so fucked up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie understood now. You were upset with him but you were also just upset at the situation in general. So was he. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You two were silent again. That stupid box fan in the corner running. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were angry that Charlie wasn’t angrier. Or sadder. Something. He was just as at fault as you were, in some ways more so. Why wasn’t he broken up like you were?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It just isn’t fair.” You sighed, cracking your knuckles, a nervous habit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Honey, what isn’t?” Charlie asked, leaning towards you again. His hand went onto his desk, outstretched, wanting you to touch him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hot tears pricked the back of your eyes. You wanted to touch him so badly too but you knew if you did, you’d just be pulled back into him, you’d take back all of the things you were saying even though you meant them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You get everything.” You said finally, looking up at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s breath hitched, moving his hand back into his lap. The tears in your wide eyes made him nervous. The fact that you were turning this on him, making it his fault, made him defensive. He was always so defensive, having to be when he fought with Nicole. “What?” He asked, tone turning slightly angry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You get this exciting second life with me, you get to sneak around and fuck me in closets, in your friend’s hot tub.” You winced at the memory, ”And then you get to go home and eat dinner with your family  and talk about your day and tuck Henry in….” You trailed off, taking a deep breath, trying not to cry more than you were. You felt stupid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was watching you, the little ways you were trying to compose yourself. He was overwhelmed, he hadn’t been expecting that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have you during the day or if you get a moment alone but then afterward I go to my empty apartment and I have nothing. I have no friends here, barely any family and they’re hours away...I don’t know Nicole but during the day, when you’re with me, what does </span>
  <em>
    <span>she</span>
  </em>
  <span> have?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was silent, letting you berate him, wanting you to get all of your feelings out. But fuck, this didn’t feel good. He couldn’t ignore his guilt like he always did because you were throwing it into his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You get the excitement from me and you get the stability from your family. You get it all. I have nothing besides you, Charlie, you know that. You’re fucking selfish.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You barely got it out of your mouth before Charlie was rolling his chair across the tile floor, standing up abruptly. He came over to the side of the desk where you were sitting and stared down at you with his hands on his hips. “Up.” He told you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You faltered, “What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you should leave.” He said, skin tinged pink in embarrassment and anger and guilt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You stood up, obeying him despite yourself, you couldn’t help it. “You’re going to just dismiss me? You have nothing to say?” You asked, your voice pleading, almost begging him to respond. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was fuming, not saying a word, chest rising and falling as he stared down at you. “What am I supposed to say?” He asked you, “I know I’m selfish, I know this is fucked up. You knew that too, you’ve known it the entire time. I don’t understand where this is coming from.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You quickly wiped at your eyes, looking away from him. You hated having him upset with you. A moment ago you had been wishing that he would have some sort of reaction to the turmoil going on but now that it was directed towards you, you just wanted it to end.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You stared up at him, the way his face was lit up with emotion, his eyes slightly glossy and his vein visible in his forehead. You’d never seen him like this. You just wanted to hug him and take it away, feeling the need to take care of him the way that he always took such good care of you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But then you thought about him thinking of you, probably even thinking about </span>
  <em>
    <span>fucking </span>
  </em>
  <span>you, while he was trying to fix his marriage with a therapist. And you remembered that he wasn’t some scared, lost boy. He was a man, who knew exactly what he was doing regardless of how shitty his situation might be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You weren’t blaming or even judging him. You were involved with the cheating as much as he was. But from an outsider’s perspective, it didn’t look good for him. He was your boss, your older boss who knew so much more than you and held so much power over you in so many ways. Sure, you didn’t feel like he ever took advantage of you but...In a way, he was somewhat responsible for this because of his position. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>God, this hurt. You didn’t want to do this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think we should end it.” You said, somehow unable to look away from the pained expression on his face. You didn’t want him to see how sad you were either. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s anger slowly dissolved, replaced by realization and longing. He stepped away from you, hands alternating quickly from his hips to his chin then back again. It seemed like he had so much to think about but his mind was just spinning, over and over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You watched him, bottom lip quivering as you tried to compose yourself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was just one night.” Charlie sighed, more to himself than you. “I fucked up and didn’t come over just one night and all of this happened…” He said, trailing off. He knew it wasn’t that simple. It wasn’t just last night. It was the fact that he was seeing a marriage counselor and the fact that what the two of you were doing was terrible and it was all just dawning on the both of you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You said nothing, letting him process it. Then, you stepped in front of him, wide-eyed. “Charlie,” You attempted to get his attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His head snapped towards you, searching all over your face, trying to find some sort of familiar emotion that he could hold onto, grab and hold. You felt like a stranger right now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you going to leave your family for me?” You asked, already knowing the answer, trying to prove a point. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was shocked at the question. He wasn’t sure how to answer. It was something he’d never even thought about. The two of you were just living day by day, he never had a plan for you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Charlie, are you going to leave Nicole and start a relationship with me?” You asked him again, voice shaking because you didn’t want to hear how he was inevitably going to answer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His face fell, knowing where you were going with this now. There was no endgame for you. You would be sneaking around until you got caught. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then what’s the point?” You asked him, you didn’t need him to say it out loud, it was clear what the answer was based on his facial expression. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You weren’t convinced that he was doing it consciously. But in your eyes, Charlie was just stringing you along, getting some excitement from you while his marriage was rough. If he and Nicole improved or if he didn’t need the excitement anymore, he wouldn’t have a need for you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>  You pushed past him, inhaling when you brushed against him, making your way over to your previous seat so that you could gather your belongings and put your purse over your shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie said your name, getting closer to you. He reached out and his large hand easily encapsulated your forearm, wrapping around it. He didn’t even know what to say to you, he understood what you meant, why you were saying it. There wasn’t much he could do to comfort you but he didn’t want to end it like this. He didn’t want to end it at all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you should go home and sleep on this and we can talk tomorrow. Or the next day, fuck, I don’t know. I just…” He huffed in irritation, cutting himself off. His free hand grabbed at your other arm, staring down at you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>How could he work with you knowing that you weren’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> anymore? It slowly dawned on him then...were you ever his? Not really. Not in anyone’s mind but his own. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You swallowed hard, staring up at him. It would be so easy to just give in and tell him that you made a mistake, never mind, you wanted to keep sneaking around with him regardless of the guilt you felt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before you could contemplate more over it, Charlie was pressing his lips against yours. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took you by surprise, even making a little noise of shock. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He held you in place, not giving you the option of pulling away from him. He had no idea what to say to you. The things he put you through...It wasn’t fair. He knew this. He was selfish and that selfishness wanted to keep you here. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sweetheart, I don’t know if I can quit you. I don’t know if I can stop this.” He muttered against your lips before kissing you again, his hands running from his grip on your shoulders down to your waist, pulling you against him. Your purse fell off of your shoulder, onto the ground and both of you ignored it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You made a soft whimper, feeling weak in the knees from the way he was touching you and speaking to you. You didn’t want to quit him either, he was making it more and more difficult the more you stood here. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Charlie…” You said breathlessly, starting to back up, trying to get away from him so that he didn’t distract you from your convictions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, honey.” Charlie sighed, nose brushing against yours. He bent down just slightly so that he could pick you up and set you down on the desk behind you, on top of all of his papers and documents. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You found yourself wrapping your arms around his neck when he moved down closer, pulling him down to you. “We…” You tried to collect yourself, his hands moving up and down your sides. “W-We can’t. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> can’t. I’m just going to end up hurt.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s heart sunk as his lips went to your neck. He desperately kissed your skin there. He was desperate to convince you not to end this, desperate just to have more of you right now. “Daddy’s not going to hurt you, I promise. I’m going to take good care of you, I always do. Don’t I?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You felt tears leak from your eyes. You wished that was true. He did take care of you now but what about if Nicole found out? He’d leave you in a second, all alone, not even with a job. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You do but…” You tried not to moan at the way he was kissing up and down your neck, brushing against your ear and back down again. “But what happens when you can’t anymore? You’ll leave me with nothing...</span>
  <em>
    <span>This</span>
  </em>
  <span> is all I have...You’re the only person I really know here, you’re my boss...”  You didn’t know how to finish that sentence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie paused, moved by your words and because he could taste the tears that had fallen from your cheeks onto your neck, where he was kissing. He pulled away so that he could look down at you. He couldn’t help but run his thumbs over your cheeks, wiping away the tears. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t have both of us forever...And I know who you’ll have to choose when it comes to that. I just want to take some control for once, I think I have to make this choice for you.” You told him sadly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was at a loss. He wanted to sneak around with you forever. He was fully aware of how messed up and delusional that was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He slowly backed away from you, letting out a shaky deep breath. He was the one who should be responsible enough to make this decision. It was embarrassing that you were the one reminding him what was right and wrong. His little girl keeping daddy in line, how humiliating.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re right.” He muttered, his stomach twisting to say that out loud. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your bottom lip trembled at that. You wanted him to argue with you, tell you that you were looking at this wrong. But he couldn’t. “I know.” You said softly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie glanced at the time, lunch break ended five minutes ago. He knew that everyone was probably waiting for him downstairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why don’t you go home? Let me know tonight if you’re ready to come back in the morning. Everyone’s going out for drinks on Thursday, we can be alone then and we can talk all of this through.” Charlie suggested. He had so much to say to you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You sighed and nodded. You carefully moved off of his desk, fixing your clothes and wiping at your face. You grabbed your purse from the ground and tried to walk to the door, wanting to get out of there before you said too much. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charle’s hand grabbed your wrist as you passed him, easily holding you in place by doing so. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You locked eyes with him, neither of you knowing what to exactly say. There was too much and not enough time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He bent down and kissed you softly, sighing into the feeling of it. “You mean so much to me.” Is all Charlie could say in the short time that the two of you had together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nodded in agreement. He meant more to you, you were sure. You couldn’t say that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before you could turn away and leave, you stood back up on your toes and kissed him again. It was brief and hesitant but you just had to do it, what if it was the last time you could?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie had similar thoughts. If this was it, if this was really how it was ending, he was extremely frustrated. He wanted so much more with you, he had so much more to tell you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You couldn’t look at him as you parted away, turning on your heel and making your way out of his office. The second that you were alone in the stairwell, you let the tears flow freely, keeping your voice down as you stumbled down the steps, the moisture in your eyes making it hard to see clearly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the door shut behind you, Charlie ran his hands over his face in frustration, cursing under his breath. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>On his desk, in the tupperware container, the soup he brought you sat there. He thought back to the night before, where he argued with Henry about having that for dinner when he wanted sandwiches. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been an entire ordeal. Nicole was upset with him that he was so stubborn about making this soup, it made more sense just to give in to Henry and make sandwiches instead. They argued for hours after dinner and Charlie fell asleep uncomfortably on the couch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just that one little incident, where Charlie wanted to make you lunch, had caused so much trouble in his household. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was just the beginning of the turbulence that you could cause... </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the thought, he was overwhelmed with another feeling of anger. It was all so unfair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie kicked the side of his desk in frustration, grunting at the impact. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He just wanted </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>You decided not to come to work the next day, not wanting to face all of the little moments of awkwardness. Where would you go for lunch? Should you write on his copy of the script still or should you bring your own? What if your hand accidentally brushed against his when you were watching rehearsal? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remembering that Charlie mentioned it would be a good idea to discuss your situation on Thursday, when everyone in the company would be going out for drinks after work, you knew you needed to come to work then. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You couldn’t avoid him forever. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The work day itself hadn’t been too awkward. It was one of the actor’s birthdays so everyone decided to order food for lunch. There hadn’t been an opportunity to question how to behave alone with Charlie because everyone just ate together, to celebrate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie himself seemed tired. He kept yawning, even though he was chugging coffee and his threshold for irritation was low too. Every time someone got something wrong, he’d have to hold himself back from snapping on them, you could tell. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In reality, Charlie had slept about an hour the night before and he was paying for that now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He and Nicole had gotten into a big argument, bigger than usual. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It started small, just a few heated words about whether or not it was a good idea to let Henry spend the night at a classmate’s house who they’d never met before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But then it escalated, as it always did:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“What if he can’t help us?” Charlie asked, referencing their marriage counselor. “What if we’re just putting off the inevitable? Nicole, I hate to say it, but do you really think that the two of us can get back to the way we used to be?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nicole’s eyes were wide. They’d never spoken about this so blatantly. “I don’t know, Charlie. I thought so but it’s sounding like you don’t feel the same.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Of course, Charlie’s mind went to you. Arguments with you were never like this. Even when you were crying and anxious, you were always so upfront about how you felt. No passive-aggressiveness. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“We just keep trying to hold on but what exactly are we holding onto?” Charlie asked, exasperated. “I want Henry to have both of us in his life but is it fair for him to have us like this? Arguing behind his back? Telling him to go to sleep early so that we can fight?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nicole looked away, ashamed. Was she being a bad mom by trying to fix things with Charlie? She’d never considered it before. “Well then, what do you suggest?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Charlie thought about it, lips pursed in thought. If he said it, he’d never be able to take it back. Even if it didn’t happen, the word would hang in the air for the rest of their relationship. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Just say it, Charlie. If you think we can’t work this out, then what’s the next step?” Nicole asked, frustrated. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Charlie shook his head and walked away, going to the fridge to grab a beer. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He didn’t need to say it out loud, the two of them were both thinking it. Repeating the word over and over in their heads, trying it out, seeing how it felt to consider:</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Divorce. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie spent the majority of the night after that fight, staring at the muted TV, trying to decide what he should do. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Did he tear his family apart or did he force it back together? He was suffering either way, to a certain extent. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Charlie?” Your soft voice muttered beside him, getting his attention and breaking him out of his thoughts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm?” He asked, heart thumping at the fact that you were addressing him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, he asked you a question.” You said, averting your eyes and pointing towards the actor on the stage who had asked a simple question about how he was delivering that particular line. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. Right. Sorry.” Charlie collected himself, shifting in his seat. “Repeat it for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You frowned. Perhaps he was as broken up as you, after all. His mind seemed so absent. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After work, everyone was excitedly pulling their jackets on, collecting their things. Happy hour. The best workday of the week. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were dreading it because you knew that meant you and Charlie would have an opportunity to be alone and talk things through. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You had done a lot of thinking. You didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>want</span>
  </em>
  <span> to end it with him and after confronting him about it, you weren’t sure if you were ready to do so. Even though the two of you were destined to fail, there was almost no way that you would work out and have a future together, you were considering taking that risk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe having Charlie for just a short time was worth the risk, the pain. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The bar wasn’t too crowded yet, it was still pretty early in the day. But there were enough people there that you didn’t feel the overwhelming anxiety that accompanied being around Charlie with people watching. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You had a drink in your hand and you were currently talking to a few of the actresses that were always so nice to you. You enjoyed the conversation but your eyes kept scanning the room, going back to Charlie and what he was up to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was talking to a few of the guys. Even though it was a little loud in there, a few times you had been able to hear his deep bellowing voice, sending shivers up your spine. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At one point, you locked eyes with him. He’d already been staring at you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gave you a small smile, a discrete one, it was almost sad. He was exhausted, physically and mentally. But, fuck, you were cute. Standing there in your little skirt, despite the cold weather, giggling and making conversation with the women beside you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It reminded him of what he needed to accomplish tonight. Getting you back, convincing you not to leave him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” He told the others he’d been in a conversation with as he slipped past them, working his way through the thin crowd towards you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You noticed him and tried not to panic, acting casual as you nodded your head at whatever had just been said to you. You were sure that it didn’t matter how many times he was inside of you or held you close, you’d always be incredibly intimidated by Charlie. Especially now, knowing that you two had a lot to discuss. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How’s it going?” Charlie asked, inserting himself into the conversation you had been having. He addressed everyone who was standing there but deep down, you knew it was just for you. An excuse to be near you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two actresses answered him, making small talk with him about how they were surprised about how cheap the drinks had been. You said nothing, twirling your straw around in your cup, moving around the ice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a lull in the conversation and Charlie turned his body towards yours. “Oh, hey, I meant to tell you earlier, I figured out how to get a hold of the lighting guy.” He said, lying, making any excuse to speak to you individually. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You got the hint. “You did? He can come by before Monday?” You improvised, trying to make your tone as casual as possible. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, here.” Charlie pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll show you the email he sent me.” He lied. He motioned you towards him, walking over to the bar where there was a strip of empty seats. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You gave the women you’d been talking to previously a little wave of ‘bye’ and a sheepish smile before following him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You sat beside him on the barstool, resuming your fidgeting with your drink, running your finger over the rim of the glass to distract yourself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie said your name softly and it took you a few moments of courage to slowly look over at him. He was staring at you intently, a deep frown on his face. You felt like the two of you were the only people in the bar. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t want to lose you.” He finally said, voice barely audible but you were close enough to him that you were able to make it out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You took a deep breath. You didn’t want to lose him either. “I think you might have to.” You said sadly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie shook his head, eyes still locked on yours. “What if I didn’t?” He asked you, still in the softest voice. That word was floating around in his mind again. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Divorce</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t understand.” You replied. That was a lie. You understood. The only way he could keep you is if he wasn’t with Nicole. But you didn’t believe that he’d ever actually end it, you needed to hear him say it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie’s jaw flexed, tense. He hadn’t said it out loud before but he trusted you, he could tell </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “I’ve been thinking a lot about our future...me and Nicole. I just don’t see a way out.” He started, “I can’t imagine a situation where we’re happy again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nodded, encouraging him, wanting to hear more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not doing anyone any good trying to force it. I don’t think I-” Charlie’s words were cut off, he stopped himself. You noticed the way his eyes widened, his breath hitched in his throat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it?” You asked, confused, “Keep going, I was listening.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit. Not now.” He muttered, shaking his head and moving off of the stool beside you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You followed his gaze, where he was staring. The door of the bar was still swinging shut and you were able to see who had just entered the building: Nicole. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your skin heated up, in surprise and sadness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You watched how Charlie made his way over to her. Your stomach clenched when you watched the way she embraced him in greeting, hugging him, pulling him close. She was smiling over his shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t know you were coming.” You could hear Charlie say. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t tell you. I know you guys always go out on Thursdays so I figured I’d join.” Nicole’s voice was harder to hear but you were able to figure it out, reading her lips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie was surprised as well. Nicole was somewhat close with a few people who worked for him but she never voluntarily spent more time around them, not like this. What shitty timing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As various people made their way over to say hello to Nicole, he thought back to the meeting they had with the counselor. A piece of advice he’d given them was to shake things up, try to break free from the routine to see if it would remind them why they fell in love in the first place. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Was this Nicole’s attempt to do that? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie thought he could be sick, thinking about the fact that she’d planned her night around attempting to improve their marriage while he’d been whispering about divorce to the girl he was fucking on the side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You watched with sad eyes. This was exactly what you’d been talking about with him in his office, a few days ago. Although you’d been talking about the bigger picture with him at the time, this was a literal representation of it. Charlie was only yours when Nicole wasn’t around. If it came down to it, he’d have to leave you for her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just like he did right now, abandoning you with your legs swinging off of the bar stool, replaying the brief words he’d offered you, over and over in your mind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlie glanced back at you, giving you an apologetic frown. What else was he supposed to do?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You quickly looked away, shaking your head at yourself and the way you were feeling. You needed to get back home. You didn’t want to be around to see them together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Attempting to get off of the seat, you were stopped by a gentle hand on your shoulder and then someone sitting down next to you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Leaving already?” Kyle asked, grinning. You had almost forgotten about him. Now that workdays were mostly just rehearsals, you didn’t have to spend a lot of time with the young actor who was hellbent on getting to know you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Still not feeling great.” You lied, knowing that he’d probably buy it since you’d missed work twice this week. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aw, that’s too bad. I was just going to buy you another drink.” He told you, noticing that the one on the counter in front of you was empty. “You sure you can’t stick around for one more?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You shook your head, “I don’t think so.” You answered him. You couldn’t help but glance over in the direction where you knew Charlie still was. Nicole’s arm was wrapped around his waist, huddled close to him while they laughed at something Frank had just said to them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Although you knew that things were rough for them, in that moment, they looked </span>
  <em>
    <span>happy</span>
  </em>
  <span> together. Fuck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright.” Kyle sighed, getting the bartender's attention with a wave of his hand. “Can I get one more?” He asked, motioning towards the mixed drink in his hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You quickly realized that you’d have to walk past Charlie and Nicole. She’d stop you to say hi, you were sure of it. She was always so friendly with you. You didn’t think you could handle that right now, at least not as sober as you were. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“One more for me too, actually.” You decided, telling the bartender, settling back down onto the stool. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle smiled brightly at that, eyebrows raised. “Nice.” He said to you, chuckling, “That didn’t take much convincing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You tried to ignore the way that he was looking you over, staring at the bare skin on your thighs. Drinking with him didn’t sound like the best time but it was better than drinking alone in your apartment, which you knew you’d have to do if you left. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You glanced over again. Charlie was grinning, big, more than you’d seen him smile all day. Ouch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A round of shots too.” You added, not acknowledging the way that Kyle was still staring at you. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle was thrilled. Finally you were talking to him and paying attention to him and not only that, but you were going to be tipsy while you did it. He couldn’t put into words how lucky he felt, what a perfect opportunity. It was gross. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You could care less right now about what Kyle’s intentions were. You were just trying not to cry or stare at the way the man you were falling in love with was having a good time with his wife. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t matter how much you cared about each other. Whether it was the end of the workday and you were back at your apartment while he went home. Or if he decided to work things out with Nicole and keep his family together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was how it would always be with you and Charlie. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It would always end up with you all alone. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
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